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THREE members of a Brazilian team have been jailed for a total of 12 years for a botched shooting in a Midlands town earlier this year.
The men were equipped with a submachine gun that would have jammed after a shot and a shotgun with the wrong ammunition, while they were also lost twice on their way to their target in Co Offaly.
They were arrested in Clara on May 26 with evidence that one of the men had a Tullamore address entered on Google Maps on his phone.
Ildomar Cabrar Da Silva (29), without a fixed address, Jefferson Dos Santos (35) from Ballymahon, Co Longford and Hugo Henrique Rodrigues (23), from the same address in Ballymahon, had all pleaded guilty to crimes involving firearms and violation of Covid- 19 regulations.
They were sentenced this afternoon in Mullingar Circuit Court for what Judge Keenan Johnson described as a business that could have caused deaths.
All three were wearing plastic gloves when they were arrested while traveling through Clara in the early hours of the morning armed with a submachine gun and a shotgun along with ammunition.
The court accepted that the goal of his company was “to scare a particular individual” but that the planned use of firearms had the capacity to go “fatally wrong”.
Judge Johnson said it was clear that the defendants were out of their league in preparing for the offense, using poorly equipped weapons and getting lost twice en route to their target.
He said none of the men were “professional hitmen or seasoned criminals,” but that allowing themselves to get involved in such a serious crime was an aggravating factor.
Finding an address on Da Silva’s phone for a proposed target, he said, was indicative of the level of planning involved and everyone knew at least a week before what was going to happen.
“It seems extraordinary that none of the defendants, all of whom had relatively impeccable records, stopped to think about the seriousness of the company they were fighting in and the level of criminality involved,” Judge Johnson said.
Mitigating factors considered included their initial convictions, the fact that they were Brazilians incarcerated in the Irish prison system and that they were detained during the Covid pandemic, which brought with it further restrictions.
Judge Johson said Jefferson dos Santos had come to Ireland to learn English in December 2019 and had booked a flight back to Brazil the day after the offense. Dos Santos was sentenced to seven years in prison with the last three years suspended, adding that he was not an organizer in the botched shooting.
Hugo Rodrigues, he said, was a participant but not an organizer who had lost his job as a result of the pandemic and was in financial difficulties. The 23-year-old was the youngest of the defendants and was the only one to offer admissions. This, the court heard, came at a cost, as he is now in protective custody for his own safety. He was sentenced to six years in prison with the last three years suspended.
Ildomar Da Silva had come to Ireland in 2015 to learn English and was the only defendant with prior convictions, having racked up a total of 24 for crimes including theft and possession of knives.
Judge Johnson said he was most at fault for having the target’s address and paying for the refueling of his car, making him a “primary organizer.” Ildomar Da Silva was jailed for the eight years with the last three years suspended.
The sentences were imposed in connection with the possession of a submachine gun, taking into account the other charges.
The three men signed a bond of 500 euros and had to agree to leave Ireland within 14 days of their release and not to return during the period of their suspended sentences.
The judge also praised the Gardaí, particularly Sergeant Carolin Lyng, for the “thorough manner” in which the case was investigated and prosecuted.
Online editors
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