DEALER CABBIE AVOIDS PRISON
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teess ... -24978572/
A TAXI driver who claimed he earned up to £250,000 from cab fares - not his “small-time” trade in cannabis - walked free from court.
Dad Paul Raymond Rogers’ story of where his cash came from was met with scepticism by a crown court judge this week.
But he was given the benefit of the doubt with a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years with supervision.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Rogers’ home on Lauderdale Drive, Guisborough was raided by police on March 29 last year after a tip-off.
They found 239g of cannabis and £6,906 in sterling, dollars and travellers’ cheques. A financial investigation revealed that some £250,000 was paid into Rogers’ seven bank accounts over six years.
He admitted dealing cannabis for 18 months but denied this was his main source of income. He pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and five counts of money laundering - transferring criminal property, money totalling £78,593 - but denied this was drug money.
He claimed the majority came from working “long, hard hours” in his taxi - earnings he didn't always declare to the taxman. Jim Withyman, defending, said: “He’s tried to cock a snook at the system by not declaring everything he's earned and earning a little bit on the side by dealing drugs. He’s not a Mr Big putting huge amounts away. He’s a small-time cannabis dealer.”
He said Rogers, 46, had saved nearly £70,000 from the drug dealing, undeclared taxi income, legitimate savings and the proceeds of a house sale. Rogers said he earned £24,000 a year as a cabbie.
Mr Withyman said the Crown had earlier accepted Rogers’ account with his guilty pleas.
Prosecutor Clodagh Maguire disputed Rogers’ explanation saying: “It’s a very convenient excuse. There’s only so much that a person realistically can earn from a taxi business.”
The judge, Recorder Patrick Palmer, said: “There is no evidence to say where that money came from.” He said he was “constrained” to accept Rogers’ account to pass sentence on him.
“But I do so with a degree of scepticism. It seems a somewhat implausible story. I’m prepared to suspend the sentence,” he said.
All of the money was seized from Rogers. Mr Withyman said Rogers, of previous good character, had been “very foolish” and lost his good name, his money and probably his job and house.
He said a prison term would serve little purpose and would be devastating for him, his wife and children. Rogers was also told to pay £700 costs.
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