Ex-Leeds United footballer who was unmasked shifting cocaine and cash as a ‘trusted courier’ for a major crime gang after their EncroChat messages were intercepted by Britain’s FBI is jailed for more than nine years
- Paul Shepherd, 45, shifted cash and cocaine for the four-man underworld crew
- Police found the former professional footballer with a fist-sized bag of cocaine
An ex-Leeds United footballer has been jailed for nine years after he was unmasked by ‘Britain’s FBI’ as a ‘trusted courier’ for a major crime gang.
Paul Shepherd, 45, shifted cash and cocaine for the four-man underworld crew, which made thousands from drug deals.
The former professional footballer played for clubs including Scarborough, Luton Town and Ayr United and made one appearance for Leeds United in the 1990s.
Police penetrated the gang when they arrested Shepherd in Leeds, West Yorkshire, in April 2020, and found him with a fist-sized bag of cocaine and a device with encrypted communications platform EncroChat installed.
Officers cracked the encrypted messaging service, used by underworld figures, and found messages that proved the drugs belonged to the gang’s ringleader Carl O’Flaherty, 38, who’d instructed Shepherd to move and store them.
Paul Shepherd, 45, shifted cash and cocaine for the four-man underworld crew, which made thousands from drug deals
The former professional footballer played for clubs including Scarborough, Luton Town and Ayr United and made one appearance for Leeds United in the 1990s
Officers later discovered that Dane Marshall, 42, had been designated as the gang’s ‘chef’, whose job was to cut the cocaine with diluents before repackaging it for sale.
While Clinton Blakey, 38, a drug dealer in his own right, bought kilogrammes of cocaine from O’Flaherty, who ran the operation from addresses in West Yorkshire.
The NCA, dubbed ‘Britain’s FBI’, who pursued the case, said the economics of O’Flaherty’s business model were laid bare in the EncroChat messages.
He would purchase three kilos of high-purity cocaine for £123,000, dilute the drugs with cheap chemicals and resell four kilos for £150,000.
Drug dealers, who were one step down the supply chain, would then buy the cocaine, including Blakey, who was one of O’Flaherty’s regular customers.
EncroChat messages uncovered their business relationship, as the pair exchanged photographs of cocaine blocks and discussed pricing.
Blakey would add more cheap ingredients to the blocks of cocaine before selling them on at a profit. He was also found to be involved in supplying cannabis.
Marshall even managed to acquire a £50,000 Government ‘bounce back’ COVID-19 business loan for a landscaping company he used as a front.
The gang’s ringleader, Carl O’Flaherty, 38, would purchase three kilos of high-purity cocaine for £123,000, dilute the drugs with cheap chemicals and resell four kilos for £150,000
Dane Marshall, 42, had been designated as the gang’s ‘chef’, whose job was to cut the cocaine with diluents before repackaging it for sale
Leeds Crown Court heard there was no evidence there was ‘ever any legitimate work’ taking place.
When police later raided the Leeds property used by the gang, they found 13kgs of amphetamine, large quantities of chemicals used to dilute cocaine.
They also found equipment that showed 12kgs of cocaine had been repackaged there.
O’Flaherty, Blakey and Marshall were arrested between May and July, 2020, before their sentencing at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Sept 6).
Mitigating for O’Flaherty, Saul Brody said that his client was not the most prominent drug dealer in the region and was still ‘ascending the criminal ladder’.
The barrister said: ‘He accepts he played a leading role. While he was ascending the criminal ladder, he had not planted his flag on any summits.
‘He was not quite yet a big-time character, he was maybe on his way but did not reach those heights yet.’
While Richard Simons representing Shepherd said, that despite him being found guilty during a trial, he was full of ‘remorse and regret’.
Clinton Blakey, 38, a drug dealer in his own right, bought kilogrammes of cocaine from O’Flaherty
O’Flaherty, Barnsley, South Yorks., admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, producing and conspiracy to supply amphetamine, and was jailed for 17 years and 10 months.
Shepherd, of Leeds, was found guilty of producing and conspiracy to supply drugs and money laundering and given nine years and six months in jail.
Marshall, of Leeds, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and acquiring criminal property, and received six years and six months’ prison.
Blakey, who first fled to Marbella, Spainm before being brought back before the courts admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and got 12 years in jail.
Nigel Coles, NCA Operations Manager, said the drugs the gang sold would have caused ‘violence and misery’ to communities.
He said: ‘Our extensive investigation has dismantled a dangerous criminal organisation that supplied large quantities of cocaine, a trade that fuels intimidation and exploitation in the north west and throughout the UK.
‘It was clear from EncroChat messages that O’Flaherty headed up the group and stopped at nothing to line his own pockets. The cocaine he was distributing would have undoubtedly contributed to violence and misery in our communities.
‘At the NCA we are committed to our mission of protecting the public from serious and organised crime, ensuring that hardened criminals such as these men are brought to justice.’
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