'Smart but stupid' drug dealer avoids prison afgter judge 'mellowed' over night
A “smart but stupid” drug dealer has avoided a prison sentence after he was caught with over €26,000 worth of drugs in what the judge said was “an amateurish operation”.
Mark Foster (23) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at his then home on Gilbert Road, South Circular Road, Dublin on January 11, 2017. He has no previous convictions.
Garda Emmett Brannigan told Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting that Foster took immediate responsibility when the drugs were discovered so that his house mates were not arrested or questioned.
The garda confirmed that cannabis, MDMA tablets and powder, cocaine and ketamine were discovered with a total street value of €26,840, along with €7,385 in cash
The cannabis, which weighed 589 grammes and had a street value of €11,785, was discovered in a garage at the back of the house. Foster then took officers to his bedroom and pointed out the remainder of the drugs
Foster said that the cash was a mixture of profits made from a legitimate business he had fixing iPhones and from selling cannabis.
Gda Brannigan agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that his client immediately took responsibility for the drugs, “taking his house mates out of the equation”.
He accepted that Foster has now returned to his native Cavan to live with his parents where he works on the family farm. He is now clean of drugs and is intending to begin a college course next September.
Gda Brannigan accepted that Foster would find prison difficult and was at a low risk of re-offending should he remain drug free.
“He is actually a very nice person. He is smart but stupid. He is naive. People would rip him off and he could be ripped off again,” Gda Brannigan said referring to Foster's drug dealing operation.
Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Foster to five years in prison which he suspended in full.
Mr Clarke said his client was “gullible and stupid” but had since turned his life around.
He submitted that Foster had “an entrepreneurial spirit” and used the profits he made over Christmas in 2016 in his iPhone fixing business to pay for the cannabis.
“His parents are shocked by his actions,” Mr Clarke and added that “it has been a salutary lesson”.
Judge Nolan said that although Foster had “excellent mitigation” he was actually drug dealing, he wasn't storing the drugs or transporting them, which was an aggravating factor.
Today Judge Nolan said it had been “a pretty amateurish operation and for whatever misguided reason he believed it was appropriate way to make money”.
He said Foster was young at the time and caught at a very early stage.
“My instinct was to imprison him but I decided to think about it overnight and this has mellowed me somewhat,” Judge Nolan said before he added that Foster's co-operation and plea of guilty allowed him to depart from the mandatory 10 year sentence.
He also said he was satisfied that it was unlikely Foster would re-offend and this was a once off incident.
