The “courage” of a former Liverpool and England football prodigy who “bragged” about his life of drug dealing and organized crime helped police arrest him, a judge said as he jailed himself.
Jamie Cassidy, 46, who played alongside Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher at school, was one of the country’s most promising footballers and was predicted to have a bright future.
But he was released by Liverpool at the age of 21 after suffering knee and leg injuries, and then turned to organized crime alongside his older brother Jonathan and associate Nasar Ahmed. He was sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison on Thursday.
Cassidy was arrested in 2020 as part of a police operation that uncovered a plan to bring 356kg of cocaine from South America to the UK.
According to prosecutors, he bore the alias Nuclear Dog and held a “management role” in the criminal ring; He oversaw the distribution of drugs to dealers across the country and served as a bookkeeper.
His conviction and imprisonment marked an extraordinary fall from grace for a footballer who at the age of 15 was England’s leading schoolboy goal scorer.
Cassidy, from Knowsley on Merseyside, transferred to Liverpool when he was nine and played for the club’s cup-winning youth team in the 1990s. He later won a place at the FA school of excellence at Lilleshall, where he played alongside many of the game’s future superstars.
But after breaking into the first team, the attacking midfielder’s career was cut short by a series of injuries that slowed his pace. Liverpool let him go in 1999 and he signed for Cambridge United, where he played a few games before moving to non-league football.
Prosecutors said he then conspired with his brother, a former builder, and other accomplices to flood the north of England with cocaine.
Manchester Crown Court heard the gang used the encrypted EncroChat messaging platform to communicate and were working on plans to import drugs worth £28 million when they were caught.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said Cassidy held an executive role at the network and was paid a salary to do so. He said the gang was busted in 2020 when EncroChat was accessed by the police.
Cassidy was arrested at his home in Knowsley in November 2020, nearly a month after his brother was detained after flying from Dubai to the UK.
In mitigation, his lawyer Paul Greaney KC said that although Cassidy was paid for his services, he did not receive a share of the huge profits from the drug deals. “He was operating under significant control with only a limited degree of autonomy,” he told the court.
Mr Greaney said Cassidy was “an exceptionally talented and promising footballer” and added: “He was transferred to Liverpool at the age of nine and was awarded one of 16 places in the FA Center of Excellence alongside Jamie Carragher.
“At the age of 15, he was the England under-16 team’s top scorer in the 1993/94 season with six goals, three of which came in the European Under-16 Championship. The following season he became the top scorer of England’s under-16 team.
“He was part of the Liverpool team that won the FA Youth Cup alongside Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen. “He later broke into the first team and made a few appearances, but injuries ruined his career.”
Cassidy was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to conceal, transfer and conceal the proceeds of crime. Jonathan Cassidy and Ahmed were sentenced to 21 years and nine months in prison for conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to conceal, transfer and conceal the proceeds of crime.
Detective Constable Marc Walby, from Greater Manchester Police’s serious organized crime group, said: “The people jailed today were from the upper echelons of organized criminals operating in Greater Manchester and, thanks to EncroChat’s intervention, we were able to see their conversations and activities in ways we have never been able to before.” somehow it happens.
“Jonathan Cassidy and his colleagues got too used to their encrypted phones and started bragging about their personal lives, but it just confirmed what we already knew about them. Ironically, it was this bullying and these messages that landed them in prison for so long.
“This was a long-running and complex case and I would like to thank the NCA and CPS for their efforts in defending the legal challenges in this case. Without it these convictions may not have been possible.
“By ending this operation we have put an end to the damage they were causing to communities in Greater Manchester and further afield. “The amount of drugs these men were involved in should not be underestimated and their contribution to the serious harm and violence that is inextricably linked to the drug trade is undeniable.”
Wayne Johns, senior investigating officer for the National Crime Agency’s Operation Venetic, said: “The Cassidy brothers and Ahmed have pleaded guilty in this case after years of doggedly challenging the legality of the case against them.
“The NCA and Crown Prosecution Service worked with GMP to defend this challenge strongly and we now see where the trio belong.
“Operation Venetic was the deepest penetration to date in the UK of organized crime groups who have caused so much damage to our society. Nearly 1,500 criminals have been convicted so far, and there are many more suspects in the legal and judicial systems.
“In total, more than 3,300 people have been arrested in the UK and more than 2,000 suspects have been charged. Criminals were sentenced to more than 10,600 years in prison. “The drugs seized include approximately six and a half tonnes of cocaine, more than three tonnes of heroin and more than 20 tonnes of cannabis.”