A Finglas man has been jailed for four years after Gardaí discovered 7kg of cannabis at his Dublin home.
Carl Finnegan (37) of Rathvilly Park, Finglas Dublin 11 appeared before Judge Martin Nolan at the circuit Criminal Court on charges related to the possession of drugs contrary to Section 15 A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.
The court heard that Gardaí executed a search of the home of the accused on the 17th of January 2023 after having received information regarding the possible presence of drugs at the home.
When entering the premises, which was unoccupied at the time, officers immediately detected a “strong smell” of cannabis before 7 1kg packs of cannabis were dissolved in two black refuse bags in the living room.
Cash in the amount of 4,900 was discovered in the kitchen, with another 4,000 found in the living room, 160 in a bedroom, as well as a further discovery of 625 and 375 in various rooms in the house which led to a charge of money laundering contrary to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act 2020.
4 copies of ledgers believed to be related to the sale of the drugs were also discovered.
After Finnegan returned to the home at 16:40pm on the same date he was detained and made “full admissions” regarding the drugs.
Prosecuting counsel, Rebecca Smith BL told the court that it was the accused’s case that he had been holding the drugs for other parties and that the proceeds of the sale of the cannabis was to be handed over.
He said that he had agreed to his arrangement as he was in debt due to a previous cocaine addiction in the amount of approximately 15,000, and that he was “motivated by fear” as he was told, “If you don’t pay it, you’ll get hurt.”
Finnegan, who was supported in court by numerous members of his family, has 21 previous convictions, 7 of which are Circuit Court matters, as well as having other matters which are the subject of appeal.
He was under the auspices of a suspended sentence at the time of the offence.
His defending counsel, Mr. Lynch, argued that his client is the father of a child who has “profound” medical difficulties and needs almost 24hr care.
Finnegan himself was diagnosed with “rheumatoid arthritis” as a child and is a person with “difficult personal circumstances.”
Lynch argued that although his client’s guilty plea had been “delayed”, his admissions were “forthcoming immediately”.
Ms. Smith informed Judge Nolan that the mandatory minimum sentence in relation to the offending is 10 years in prison.
Considering a sentence, Judge Nolan said that although the accused had displayed “good cooperation” with Gardaí, the amount of drugs involved was “serious enough”.
“Undoubtedly this man deserves a custodial sentence,” he added, before setting a headline sentence of 6 years.
The court reduced the 6 years to a term of 4 years in jail on count 6 of the indictment which refers to the 7kg of cannabis.
A Section 99 order in respect of the possible reactivation of the suspended portion of the sentence Finnegan was bound under at the time of the commission of the offence is to be dealt with at a later date.
As the accused was led away, several members of his family left the court in tears.