A Liverpool man masterminded a £1m heroin racket from his prison cell – while awaiting sentence over another drugs racket.
Thomas Kehoe, 27, was on remand at Exeter prison facing sentence for his role in a £5.8m drugs conspiracy between Liverpool and Devon.
But while awaiting his eventual 12-year sentence in July last year, Kehoe continued his trade from the comfort of his prison cell, using smuggled mobile phones and SIM cards.
He was today ordered to spend an extra six years behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Exeter Crown Court heard how £1m of heroin was moved from Liverpool to Plymouth at Kehoe’s behest.
Also jailed were Liverpool men Steven Kehoe, 29, and Daniel O’Flaherty, 22, for five years and three months, and six years and nine months respectively.
Andrew Roberts, 33, from Wigan, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.
All admitted the same offence as Kehoe, who was part of an 18-strong drugs gang jailed last year for a combined 140 years.
The 18-strong drugs gang jailed in 2015:
Its leaders lived the high life with their vast illicit profits – splashing cash on VIP boxes at Anfield and far-flung holidays.
They used a tiny cottage in a Devon village as their base to peddle cocaine and heroin shipped out of Merseyside.
Leader Daniel Smith and his lieutenants used a network of gophers and couriers to carry out their dirty work as they lived a jet-set lifestyle, despite having no legitimate source of income.
When those at the bottom of the chain were arrested, police said the gang would simply enlist others to do their bidding.
Kehoe had been described as a “key right-hand-man” in that drugs plot.
A warrant has been issued for Liverpool man John Hunt, 50, who failed to appear for sentence.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/