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AN IRISH IS facing a lengthy jail sentence after admitting to drug trafficking and money laundering, a court heard.
Judge Brian Cummings QC told wealthy transportation chief Thomas Maher that he will likely receive a “substantial” prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to a series of crimes in Liverpool Crown Court today.
Maher, a father of three, who appeared via video link from HMP Liverpool, was arrested in October last year after the deaths of 39 Vietnamese found in a shipping container in Essex.
His home in Warrington, Cheshire, was raided by police, but he was not charged with any crime in connection with the deaths.
The 39-year-old was again arrested by the National Crime Agency on June 30 and charged with the other crimes.
On Friday, Maher pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit a crime abroad, between March 28 and May 11 of this year.
They included two counts of conspiracy to import Class A drugs into Ireland and two counts of transferring criminal property to Ireland, € 300,000 in April and € 600,000 in May.
Catherine Rabaiotti, the accuser, said the reasons presented were accepted by the prosecution and that Maher will be sentenced on December 1.
After ordering Maher’s arrest until then, Judge Cummings told the defendant: “On the face of it, you are facing a substantial custody sentence, but the exact nature and scope of the sentence will be decided next time on 1 December”.
The facts of the case were not opened during the brief hearing.
Maher is believed to have been coordinating a transport network to facilitate drug imports into the UK via Ireland and the transport of money from Ireland to the Netherlands using encrypted EncroChat phones.
EncroChat phones were used by major criminals in Europe as they were considered indecipherable by the police.
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But the secret communication system was hacked by police in June, leading to hundreds of arrests across the country.
Maher has pleaded not guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit a crime abroad, that of conspiracy to cause serious bodily harm to Ronan Hughes in Ireland between April 21 and 29 of this year.
The final charge will not be prosecuted, the court heard.
Carrier Ronan Hughes, 40, of Co Armagh in Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in August to 39 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid illegal immigration between May 1, 2018 and October 24, 2019.
Comments have been closed as legal proceedings are ongoing.
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