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A UK court has sentenced a group of 12 individuals involved in a £4.6 million ($5.2 million) drug operation to a combined 88 years in jail.
The gang used Coinbase and the assistance of family and friends of incarcerated members to launder their profits.
According to Nation Cymru, the gang was involved in the sale of various illegal drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and other class-A substances.
The leader of the group, 30-year-old Amir Khan, managed to convert £1.65 million ($2.1 million) of their illicit gains into cryptocurrency. As a result, the judge stated that recovering some of the funds might prove impossible. Notably, more than £153,520 ($176,000) in cryptocurrency has already gone missing.
One of Khan’s associates, 26-year-old Joshua Billingham, reportedly assisted 29-year-old Stacey Challenger, who was in a relationship with him, in carrying out their criminal activities. However, defense lawyers argued that Challenger was naive and acted under Billingham’s direction. The judge disagreed, asserting that she willingly chose the criminal path.
The police discovered a money-counting machine, £10,000 worth of designer clothes, and a Range Rover during a raid at the couple’s residence in Wales. During the trial, the judge questioned Challenger about the money counter found in her possession, given her unemployment and her partner’s lack of a job.
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Amir Khan received a prison sentence of 20 years and seven months for conspiring to supply class-A drugs and conspiring to convert criminal property. The judge described Khan’s criminal behavior as truly staggering.
Joshua Billingham was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison, while Stacey Challenger received a one-year sentence for laundering £300,000 and conspiring to convert it into cryptocurrency.