Suspended sentence for drug dealer caught with €114k of cocaine not too lenient, court finds
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a fully suspended sentence was not unduly lenient for a man who was being paid €500 per week for his role in the supply of drugs when he was caught with €114,000 worth of cocaine.
Mohamed Adeagbo (24) of Highfield, Ballincollig, County Cork, pleaded guilty to having cocaine for sale or supply at a time when its street value exceeded €13,000, at his home address on April 25, 2022.
He also pleaded guilty to a money-laundering charge that on April 22, 2022, at the address at Highfield Park, he possessed the proceeds of criminal conduct, namely €1,530 in cash, while knowing that it was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
He was sentenced to three and a half years for the drug offence, fully suspended, with a concurrent one-year sentence on the second charge, also fully suspended by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last November.
Lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) launched an appeal earlier this month, arguing that Adeagbo's sentence was unduly lenient. The DPP said there were no wholly exceptional circumstances that could warrant fully suspending the three-and-a-half-year sentence.
Imelda Kelly BL, for the DPP, said that Adeagbo had been detected with 1.6 kilos of cocaine with a value of €114,000, as well as a quantity of cannabis and cash totalling €1,530.
She pointed out that the gardaí said the 24-year-old had been actively involved in the supply of drugs, for which he was receiving €500 per week, and an iPhone had been seized from his home containing offending messages, the barrister said.
Ms. Kelly argued the sentencing judge had erred by placing excessive weight on the mitigating factors and failing to give sufficient consideration to the principles of deterrence.
Adeagbo's barrister Alice Fawsitt SC said that her client had been a 21-year-old with no life experience, who came from a family of limited means and displayed no trappings of wealth.
In dismissing the appeal at the Court of Appeal today, Mr Justice Brian O'Moore said Adeagbo had satisfied the judge that he was drug free at the time of sentencing, had complied entirely with everything that was asked of him by the Probation Service and had done his 'level best' to get himself back on track.
'The sentencing judge was quite entitled, in those truly exceptional circumstances, to fully suspend the sentence imposed on Mr Adeagbo,' Mr Justice O'Moore said.
The judge said the headline sentence of five years was not in dispute and the reduction of that sentence by 18 months, given the signed plea of guilty, was 'in no way inappropriate'.
'The suspending of the balance of the sentence did not form a substantial or gross departure from what was an appropriate sentence in the circumstances,' he said.
Cocaine. Stock image
News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday, July 29
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