Lithuanian man (49) was only ten months in Ireland when €120,000 worth of drugs were found in his apartment, court hears
The Sligo ChampionA 49 -year-old man has been jailed for five years and eight months for drug dealing, money laundering, and having more than €120,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine found in his apartment.
Aleksej Sergejev (49) of Clares Court, Cavan, Co. Cavan appeared before Judge John Aylmer for sentencing at Leitrim Circuit Criminal Court .
The defendant had three sale or supply charges for cocaine and cannabis, four personal use drugs charges alongside single counts of money laundering and section 15A drugs possession.
Ms Monica Lawlor BL with Cavan State solicitor Ms Fiona Baxter prosecuted whilst Mr Garnet Orange SC with Dimitri Grinberg BL instructed by Mr Niall Fox solicitor appeared for Sergejev.
Ms Lawlor told Judge Aylmer that Sergejev pleaded guilty to the charges on June 30. She added that €12,150 was the amount found in his apartment for the money laundering charge. The total value of the drugs found was €128,769.
Sergeant Keith Maguire outlined the evidence led by Ms Lawlor.
Sgt Maguire was on patrol on February 3, when he stopped a Toyota Corolla that was driving erratically. Sergejev appeared very nervous and evasive.
Sgt Maguire then searched the car and found two wraps of cannabis herb. Sergejev was conveyed to Cavan Garda Station. Cannabis worth about €2,500 was found in the defendant’s car.
Gardaí obtained a search warrant for Sergejev’s apartment and executed it on February 3. They found drugs in shopping bags and in a shoebox. Envelopes filled with money were also found in the apartment as well as cocaine in an shoebox. Dealing bags were also found.
The total amount of cocaine found in the defendant’s apartment weighed 349.2kg and was valued at €24,427.
5,214 kg was the total amount of cannabis found, and it was valued at €104,296.
When interviewed, Sergejev told gardaí that he had only been in Ireland for 10 months and that he came from Lithuania. He admitted ownership of the drugs found in his apartment and in his car. He also told them that the woman that was in the house when the search warrant was executed “had nothing to do with it”.
The court was informed that Sergejev had been in custody since February 4, and he had no previous convictions in Ireland. However, the defendant had convictions of a similar nature from Nottingham and Cambridge Crown Courts in the UK.
In Nottingham, Sergejev was jailed for four years for dealing cocaine. He also received a 20-month sentence for dealing cannabis that ran concurrently with the previous sentence.
In Cambridge Crown Court, the defendant received a seven-year prison sentence for possessing a handgun.
Sgt Maguire confirmed when asked by Mr Orange that Sergejev was very apologetic and that he co-operated with the investigation.
The prosecuting sergeant also confirmed that Sergejev worked as a carpenter and a bridging engineer.
When asked by Mr Orange SC, if there was anything to indicate that Sergejev used the proceeds to fund an extravagent lifestyle, Sgt Maguire described the defendant’s 221 Toyota as a fairly standard car and that Sergejev had no “bling watches”.
Mr Orange told Judge Aylmer that his client was very sorry and that he understood that he was facing a prison sentence on the charges. He added that Sergejev had no English and no connections with the country.
He told the judge that Sergejev took full responsibility for the drugs and that he pleaded guilty very early.
Judge Aylmer said that the section 15A charge was most serious as it had a maximum tariff of life in prison. He noted that the aggravating factor in the case were that Sergejev had similar convictions in the UK, and he imposed a headline sentence of seven years.
For the money laundering charge, Judge Aylmer noted that Sergejov had €12,000 that was the proceeds of a drug dealing operation and put it in the mid-range. He imposed a headline sentence of six years in prison.
In terms of mitigation, the judge said that Sergejev pleaded guilty very early and that there was a substantial level of co-operation between him and the gardaí and that he had no previous convictions in Ireland.
He reduced the sentence on the money laundering charge from seven years to six years and eight months and the section 15A charge to four years imprisonment with both sentence to run concurrently.
Judge Aylmer noted that Sergejev had no English and no family members living in Ireland. He suspended the final 12 months on the six-year and eight months sentence on condition that he kept the peace and be of good behaviour, for 12 months from the day he was released.
Judge Aylmer ordered all the property seized in the search warrant to be destroyed.
Article funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.