Man jailed for possession of cocaine worth over €500k
A former taxi driver and committed father who was caught in possession of over €500,000 worth of cocaine has been sentenced to 10 years with the last six years suspended.
Dennis Ashe (aged 47) of Dorset Street, Dublin 1, had initially denied the charges but when his defence team were supplied with additional evidence of telephone records linking him to his co-accused, he pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs for sale or supply on April 10, 2008.
Detective Garda Martin Geraghty told Mr Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting, that a surveillance operation had been set up in the Pearse Street area following a tip-off.
Ashe’s taxi was stopped at 9.40 am on April 10. David Douglas (aged 50) of Killala Road, Cabra was his front seat passenger, while Englishmen, Ivan Graham (aged 28) and Voja Pelkovic (aged 26) were in the back seat.
Det Gda Geraghty told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that Graham had a black holdall bag containing eight kilos of cocaine, worth €562,000.
All four men were arrested and Graham of Clifton Road, Rugby Warwickchire and Pelkovic of Chime Close, Oakwood, Derby both later pleaded guilty, having made full admissions in garda interview.
Judge Martin Nolan later sentenced Graham to six years in prison and jailed Pelkovic for four and half years.
Judge Tony Hunt sentenced Douglas to 10 years with five suspended last year after he heard that he had a number of serious criminal convictions.
Det Gda Geraghty agreed with Mr Foley that the telephone records provided to Ashe’s legal team were “a web of interconnection between all men” dating back a period of three months before they were all stopped in Ashe’s taxi.
He accepted that Pelkovic acted as a minder of the drugs and Graham as a courier. Both men had travelled together from the UK, arriving in Dublin Airport on April 8, 2008.
He said there was CCTV footage from both the airport and the hotel that the two men ultimately stayed in.
They were observed by gardaí leaving this hotel and getting into Ashe’s taxi on the morning of their arrest.
The phone records proved that Ashe had been in significant contact with both Englishmen prior to their arrival in Ireland.
Det Gda Geraghty said Ashe has six previous convictions including larceny, attempted larceny, assault and burglary. A previous trial had been adjourned because of a ‘Primetime Investigates’ programme into the working of taxi drivers, as the documentary was considered prejudicial to Ashe’s case.
Det Gda Geraghty agreed with Mr Giollaíosa O’Lideadha SC, defending, that there were a number of letters handed into the court on behalf of Ashe which described him as a devoted father and supportive son-in-law.
Mr O’Lideadha told Judge Hunt that a letter from Ashe’s son stated that his father had been a positive influence in his life and had been a rock of support to the whole family.
Counsel said Ashe had got into financial difficulty before the offence and there were “elements of drug use” in relation to his client but not full-time addiction.
Judge Hunt said he was satisfied that Ashe’s plea of guilty had been offered after “the case crystallised and the full amount and nature of the evidence was disclosed to him”.
He also said Ashe has a “substantial prospect of turning his life around and I am obliged to encourage that.”
