Man caught holding €285,000 worth of cocaine to pay drug debt jailed

Sonya McLean

A man who was holding €285,000 worth of cocaine in order to pay off a drug debt has been jailed for three and half years.

Mark Kelly (26), of Ashfield Court, Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at his home on June 29th, 2022.

He also admitted the possession of cash, believed to be the proceeds of crime, at his home on the same date.

Kelly has no previous convictions.

Garda Declan Meehan told George Burns BL, prosecuting, that officers searched Kelly’s home after securing a warrant. The court heard the officers found drugs with an estimated street value of €285,000 in a bedroom, along with €3,575 in cash.

Other items such as weighing scales, knives and "baggies" were also discovered.

Kelly immediately took responsibility, telling officers he had been holding the drugs in order to pay off a drug debt he had run up through his own cocaine use. He said he had been “threatened a small bit” and had been in debt for about six months.

He told officers he had been spending about €250 per week on cocaine, and owed about €3,000.

Drug debt

Gda Meehan agreed with Tony McGillicuddy SC, defending, that Kelly lived at the house with others, and immediately took responsibility for the drugs, telling officers where they would find the haul.

Mr McGillicuddy handed in a number of letters to the court on behalf of his client.

Counsel told the court his client did not have an easy childhood, but finished his education, went to college and secured good employment.

Mr McGillicuddy explained Kelly lost his job the previous December, and he was no longer able to fund his cocaine habit.

"It was at this point that he was used by others," counsel said.

Mr McGillicuddy added that Kelly participates "positively in the community", and plays with a local team.

"He has obviously done damage to his future prospects," counsel said, adding: "He got in over his head. He didn’t realise the amount or value of the drugs he had at the time."

Mr McGillicuddy asked the court to take into account that Kelly ensured "other people were not put in the firing line" by taking responsibility for the drugs. He also asked the court to accept that he has no previous convictions, and that Kelly has people who are "willing to stand by him".

Judge Martin Nolan accepted it was to Kelly’s credit that he immediately took responsibility for the drugs, and that he had "got in over his head" due to his own addiction.

"It was a huge misjudgement, but he made that misjudgement, and his own activities didn’t help," Judge Nolan said.

Jailing him for three and a half years, the judge accepted that Kelly was at the lower end of the enterprise, but said he was "vital cog" in the illicit drug operation.