The ex-Liverpool footballer Jamie Cassidy has been handed a 13-year prison sentence after being convicted of drug trafficking and numerous other offenses.
During his teenage years, Jamie was a key player in the team that clinched the FA Youth Cup in 1996. In that final, Liverpool triumphed over West Ham with an impressive 4-1 victory, with Cassidy sharing the pitch alongside Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen. Notable figures such as Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand were among West Ham’s lineup.
Cassidy also represented England at youth level and was tipped for a promising future. Despite signing a professional contract with Liverpool, his career was derailed by a serious injury, forcing him to depart Anfield at the tender age of 21 in 1999.
Attempting to revive his career, Cassidy spent a year at Cambridge United before ultimately calling it quits. Jamie Carragher, in his autobiography, reflects that Cassidy had the potential to become a star player for the club, were it not for his unfortunate string of injuries.
However, Cassidy, now aged 46, took a different path, opting for a life of crime. He became associated with a gang led by his older brother Jonathan.
In a span of six weeks in April and May 2020, just months before their arrests, Cassidy orchestrated drug deals amounting to over £28 million, importing narcotics from the Netherlands into the UK.
To conceal their illicit gains, the criminal group laundered money through real estate ventures, investing in land and various properties in Liverpool, including an old cinema.
Their criminal enterprise came crashing down when law enforcement breached the encrypted communication platform EncroChat. This led to a significant crackdown on organized crime syndicates worldwide.
While Cassidy received a 13-year prison sentence, his brother Jonathan, who held a prominent position within the gang, was sentenced to 21 years and nine months.
The Cassidy gang’s downfall began when one of their associates was apprehended in the Netherlands.
Until their arrest, the brothers believed their communications were secure, until EncroChat notified all users of the security breach in spring 2020.
On July 8, Jonathan Cassidy perused online articles detailing the arrests of notorious criminals in Manchester and Liverpool before jetting off to Dubai. Despite initially house-hunting with a budget of £2-3 million, he inexplicably decided to return to the UK, where he was promptly arrested upon arrival at the airport.
Since their arrest, both brothers and other members of the criminal organization have been incarcerated, with their final sentences becoming clear only earlier this week.
While Jonathan Cassidy had prior convictions for serious offenses, Jamie had only one previous brush with the law – a shoplifting incident nearly two decades ago.
