ENCROCHAT MOBSTER IS JAILED IN N.I.

Crim says lifestyle brought ‘nothing but misery’

A NOTORIOUS crook has “broken ranks” with his gang to admit crimes which include importing drugs and conspiracy to murder.

Michael O’Loughlin, who is originally from Galway but had been living in Northern Ireland, was arrested in Co Down in 2020 as part of a Europe-wide crackdown on organised crime

O’Loughlin (44) was one of a huge number of suspected criminals lifted after cops hacked the EncroChat encrypted phone network which was being used to send messages between gangs.

He previously made headlines when he was jailed for nine years for membership of a criminal organisation in 2012 — the first such sentence in the Republic under then-new antigang legislation.

O’Loughlin and his brother Eddie, who had their sentences reduced to six-and-a-half years on appeal, were targets of Operation Foolscap, which focused on the brothers and more than a dozen members of their gang.

They were released from prison in 2016.

O’Loughlin was charged with more than 40 offences in connection with the EncroChat investigation, including conspiracies to import, supply and possess heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis.

The father-of-two was also accused of money laundering in that he was allegedly involved in conspiracies to transfer or convert criminal cash amounting to £265,500 and €25,000.

He was further charged with conspiring to murder a man named in messages on EncroChat as “Johnny”.

DOCUMENTS

All the offences were committed on dates between March 25 and June 14, 2020.

O’Loughlin, who has been in custody since his arrest in June 2020, initially denied the offences but then changed his plea to guilty.

He was jailed for six years on Friday and the court was told he had “broken ranks” with his former criminal associates by pleading guilty.

Four years on, a number of other people arrested in 2020 in Northern Ireland as part of the massive EncroChat operation are still before the courts.

The majority of them are understood to be denying the charges.

Friday’s sentencing hearing at Derry Crown Court heard O’Loughlin, whose address on court documents was listed as Upper Dromore Road, Warrenpoint, wanted to “put the matter behind him” and get on with a crime-free life.

The court was told O’Loughlin had been “unusually candid” with probation officers following his arrest.

In an apparent reference to his former criminal associates’ attitude towards him after his arrest, O’Loughlin told one officer: “I was discarded and they took everything.”

Despite suggestions that criminals lived the “high life”, O’Loughlin said his previous lifestyle had brought “nothing but misery”.

Sentencing O’Loughlin, Judge Neil Rafferty said the evidence showed he was “clearly heavily involved” in a network of criminals which was importing drugs into Northern Ireland.

Judge Rafferty said the messages secured from the Encrochat investigation showed it was a “sophisticated” operation.

He said the encrypted messaging service allowed organised crime gangs to conduct their business.

If the charges had been contested, Judge Rafferty told

O’Loughlin, he would have jailed him for 18 years upon conviction.

CREDIT

However, the judge said the Galway man, who had been assessed by probation officers as being at a “medium” risk of reoffending, deserved credit for his guilty plea.

For the most serious charge of conspiracy to murder, O’Loughlin was jailed for 12 years, but he is to be released after six years and will spend the rest of the sentence on licence.

For the litany of other offences, he received prison terms of between 12 months and four years.

All these sentences are to run concurrently, meaning he will spend a total of six years in jail.

Given that he has already served almost four years on remand, O’Loughlin would be expected to be released from prison in the next couple of years.

Judge Rafferty noted O’Loughlin had applied to be transferred to a prison in the Republic to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

The judge also highlighted O’Loughlin had gained a “quite impressive” number of qualifications in adult education courses during his latest spell in prison.

Judge Rafferty encouraged him to keep up his studies.

“I’m going to try and stick with it,” O’Loughlin told the court.

There had previously been a reporting restriction in place in relation to O’Loughlin’s case.

However, after the sentencing, the Sunday World raised this with Judge Rafferty and he agreed the restriction should be lifted.

SEIZED

In 2012, O’Loughlin and his brother Eddie both pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of a criminal organisation in the Galway area between February 10 and June 1, 2010.

Last year, Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, said more than 6,500 people have been arrested and close to €900 million seized following the successful takedown of the EncroChat system.

According to Europol, investigators managed to intercept, share and analyse more than 115 million criminal conversations, by an estimated number of more than 60,000 users.

He was heavily involved in a network of criminals importing drugs