This Irish Soccer Player Got Caught With Almost $20K Worth Of Weed

A former League of Ireland football (soccer) player, Jake Kelly, was recently caught green-handed with €14,000 ($18,617) of cannabis, but his sentence was suspended under strict conditions. 

31-year-old Kelly was caught with different drugs in his vehicle while meeting with a separate party during a garda surveillance operation. According to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Kelly found himself in the illegal trade after racking up debts from his gambling addiction. 

At the court on September 11, Kelly pleaded guilty to the possession of cannabis for sale or supply at Carrickmines Green, Carrickmines. He’s also had two prior convictions for minor road traffic offenses. Judge Codd said Kelly did not have a drug addiction but a gambling addiction, which means he made “a sober decision” to get involved in illegal drug distribution.

Because Kelly had admitted to struggling with his gambling addiction to such an extent, the Probation Service says he’s at low risk of reoffending. Judge Codd sentenced Kelly to three years in prison, but the sentence was then entirely suspended on strict conditions.

Detective GDA Reilly says a surveillance video in the neighborhood found Kelly parking at Carrickmines Green when another man stepped in the vehicle. Sometime later, the man left the car and looked like he was hiding something under his clothes. The man leaving the car was later found and searched, where police discovered him possessing around one kilo of cocaine.

The court did not charge Kelly for the possession or distribution of cocaine. When authorities searched Kelly’s car, they found two blocks of cannabis resin inside a shopping bag, sitting at the foot of the passenger seat. The estimated value of said cannabis was worth €14,000 ($18,617).

In an Interview with Gardaí, reported by MSN Sport, Kelly said he was in complete acceptance that the cannabis was discovered in a vehicle under his name. It’s reported that Kelly had nothing more to say out of fear for his life. Kelly’s Lawyer, Ms. Murphy, said her client was well known for playing semi-professional football (soccer) for 10-11 years, and she says the culture influenced him to begin gambling.

After losing himself in his gambling addiction, Murphy said Kelly found himself in tremendous debt and was under immense pressure to pay back the money he borrowed to gamble. She continued that her client saw an “opportunity” to pay back his debts and took it, where he was in over his head.