Jail for former soccer star caught with €2.7m heroin
Quinn given seven-and-a-half years
A FORMER professional footballer who was caught moving over €2.7million of heroin has been jailed for four years.
Keith Quinn, 32, received a package containing the drugs at work in an industrial estate in West Dublin.
Soon afterwards he met with another man and then delivered it to a nearby address.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Quinn, who previously played for Sheffield United and several League of Ireland clubs, had “a very significant gambling problem” and that there was “a hold over him” due to debts he had accrued.
Quinn, of Monastery Gate Avenue, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin for sale or supply at Rosemount Business Park, Dublin, on August 5, 2020. He has four previous convictions for minor road traffic offences.
Alan Quinn, 41, the accused’s older brother and a former footballer for the Irish national team, gave evidence before the court that his sibling had a good upbringing and none of the family have any convictions.
Mr Quinn said he did not condone what his brother did, but he does not think he “is a bad lad”. He argued Keith is not a dealer and he deserves a second chance.
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Pauline Codd sentenced Quinn to seven-and-a-half years imprisonment.
She suspended the final three-and-a-half years of the sentence on strict conditions including that he undergo residential treatment for gambling addiction, if deemed appropriate by the Probation Service.
Detective Garda Liam Aherne told prosecutor John Berry that in August 2020, police authorities in the UK became suspicious of a package travelling through the UK which had been sent from the Netherlands and had a final destination in Ireland.
Det Gda Aherne said UK police opened the package and determined that it contained heroin before contacting gardai.
An operation was put in place to continue the delivery and on the date in question a detective dressed in a UPS uniform delivered the package to the accused’s work address in the Dublin industrial estate.
The package, which had the name “Keith” on the address label, was given to Quinn who sent a photo of it to his co-accused. He received a text back saying “Do nothing until I get there”.
Quinn put the package in his car and drove alongside the co-accused to another part of the industrial estate. Quinn entered a premises on his own and then came out without the package.
They were arrested shortly after and the package was recovered. The total value of the heroin was €2,769,130.
Passing sentence, Judge Codd said it was “quite clear the accused was a cog in the distribution of the drugs”.
It is quite clear that the accused was a cog in the distribution of the drugs
JUDGE PAULINE CODD DUBLIN CIRCUIT CRIMINAL COURT, YESTERDAY