Infamous mob boss's nephew pleads guilty at Special Criminal Court
Christy Keane relative Richard Treacy admits using crime cash to pay for renovations to home
The nephew of a Limerick gangland figure has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to money laundering over renovation work carried out at his home.
Richard Treacy (36) from Garryowen, Co. Limerick, this week admitted charges that he allowed the proceeds of crime to be used for work on his Downey Street home.
His trial at the Special Criminal Court had been due to last for two weeks but he changed his plea to guilty.
He is the latest person connected to mob boss Christy Keane to be convicted over money laundering, after a Garda operation targeted the gang's finances.
Treacy is now due to re-appear at the non-jury court in July for sentencing.
His first cousin Kieran Keane Jnr is being targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau who say three properties and €100,000 in a bank account are the proceeds of crime.
Crime boss Christy Keane
Keane Jnr was also mentioned during a criminal case against Dermot 'Plum' McManus, who got a three-year prison sentence for money laundering in January last year.
McManus was described as 'close confidant' of crime boss Christy Keane, who is Keane Jnr's uncle.
Keane Jnr was also cited as another alleged leading member of the gang.
The Keane gang was described as one of the 'most ruthless crime groups in the State' at the Special Criminal Court.
As well as 'Plum' McManus, Chirsty Keane's sister Sandra Hehir has also been convicted of money laundering.
She got a two-and-a-half-year sentence over €124,000 found in her attic, which was found to be the proceeds of crime.
Separately, her son Warren Hehir was convicted of money-laundering offences and sentenced to four years and three months.
He admitted that €59,000 spent on renovating his home and a Rolex watch were the proceeds of crime.
His wife Vicky Hehir also pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering over the cash used for the renovations but avoided a prison sentence to allow her to look after their children.
A convicted killer, Richard Treacy has been caught up in the violence of Limerick's infamous gangland feuding.
He was jailed in 2007 for the manslaughter of Darren Coughlan, who was beaten to death in Limerick in 2005.
Then aged 19, Treacy was sentenced to six years in prison along with his cousin Joseph Keane and Shane Kelly, who got seven years in prison.
The three men notoriously smiled and winked at people in the public gallery as they were led away to begin serving their sentences.
Three years later, Treacy's older brother Daniel was shot dead by John Coughlan, a brother of Darren's who is also believed to have tried to shoot Richard Treacy's uncle Pa Keane.
Coughlan was jailed for life after a court heard how Treacy was shot three times in the head and once in the groin at a filling station.
A video of the murder was recently played in court during a civil lawsuit brought by a former worker at the shop in which Coughlan took the gun from the shopping bag before opening fire.
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