A DUBLIN father who was caught with over €290,000 and Stg£12,000 from criminal proceedings has been jailed for four and a half years.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that William Trimble (57) was to be paid up to €5,000 for holding total amounts of €292,850 and £12,000.
Detective Garda David McKinley said Trimble told gardaí he had been “asked to do a small favour and it got bigger from there.”
Trimble, of Edenmore Drive, Dublin 5, pleaded guilty to a sample count of possessing €243,000, knowing or believing it to be the proceeds of criminal conduct, at his home on July 21, 2014.
Judge Martin Nolan took the remaining counts on the indictment into consideration when imposing the sentence.
Trimble has six previous convictions, including a three-year sentence for burglary dating back to 1978.
The judge told the court he was disregarding these convictions.
Det Gda McKinley told Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, that he and members of the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU) received confidential information about a premises at Russell Terrace, Kettles Lane, Kinsealy.
Gardaí set up surveillance at the address and arrested Trimble coming out of the apartment with a vacuum pack machine and a set of keys.
They found €24,000 hidden in a false compartment at the back of Trimble’s jeep and €23,000 in a fake wardrobe compartment in the apartment.
Det Gda McKinley accepted that other people would have had access to this premises.
Gardaí found four packages containing €50,000 in a safe at Edenmore Drive, as well as a smaller package with €15,000 and a pink bag holding €5,850.
A further €6,750 was found in a bedroom, along with €16,000 in envelopes in the garden shed and the £12,000.
Det Gda McKinley agreed with Bernard Condon SC, defending, that Trimble had revealed he was in fear if he named third parties.
The detective further agreed Trimble had co-operated with the investigation and that he was at the lower end of the scale.
Mr Condon submitted to Judge Nolan that his client had a long work record and was involved with charity fundraising.
He submitted that Trimble had not been funding a lifestyle through the offences.
Judge Nolan accepted Trimble had “many, many good points” and that he had reared a successful family.
He said though Trimble had pleaded guilty, showed “true remorse” and was unlikely to come before the courts again, he felt he had to impose a custodial sentence.
“He helped serious criminals hide money,” the judge said.
He ordered that the seized money be confiscated by the State but that the jeep should return to Trimble’s family.
Aoife Nic Ardghail