Courts / Dublin / Report
10 years for man caught transporting €70k in cocaine
Summary
Stephen Pender, aged 53, and Paul O'Hara, aged 41, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing cocaine worth over €13,000 for sale or supply. Pender was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, the mandatory term for a second offence of this nature, and his sentence will be reviewed after five years. O'Hara received a three‑year sentence, reflecting his lack of serious prior convictions and apparent reform. The pair were caught after a garda surveillance operation that followed them from a meeting outside the Ashling Hotel on Arran Quay to a car in which a 1 kg package of cocaine, valued at €70,000, was found. Pender tried to discard a mobile phone sim card; O'Hara fled the scene but later admitted to transporting the drugs to pay a €800 debt. Both men had no proprietary interest in the cocaine.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 10 years for man caught transporting €70k in cocaine. Charges or matters: one count of possessing cocaine over the value of €13,000 for sale or supply in Dublin on October 27 last year. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- October 27 Incident
- 2017-11-27 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: one count of possessing cocaine over the value of €13,000 for sale or supply in Dublin on October 27 last year (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Pender, with an address in Glasanaon Road, Finglas, Dublin, was given a ten year sentence by Judge Martin Nolan today.
Convicted Person
Charges: one count of possessing cocaine over the value of €13,000 for sale or supply in Dublin on October 27 last year (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Pender, with an address in Glasanaon Road, Finglas, Dublin, was given a ten year sentence by Judge Martin Nolan today. Judge Martin Nolan ordered that Pender's sentence be reviewed after five years.
Places mentioned
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