Passing sentence, Judge Catherine Fooks said: ‘By any means, the quantity of drugs involved here is huge and the street value staggering.’
She praised Guernsey Customs and the Economic and Financial Crime Bureau for their combined painstaking and hard work in bringing the matter to a proper conclusion before the court.
Mitigating for Lovell, Advocate Samuel Steel said his client recognised the seriousness of what he had done and said the evidence did not suggest Lovell was the organiser or controller of the operation.
Lovell disputed the authenticity of the Rolex watches found at his home, and they did not form part of the sentencing exercise.
Advocate Steel said Lovell had returned to his old ways after his use of recreational drugs and alcohol increased and he distanced himself from positive influences.
He recognised the harm his offending had caused innocent family members, and his marriage had ended as a result of his imprisonment.
For Le Cras, Advocate Chris Green said his client’s position today was one of acceptance, culpability and remorse.
He was not the organiser, financier or controller of the enterprise. He wished to apologise to the court in person for his offending, which he was allowed to do. Counsel spoke of his client’s difficult upbringing and background but said he had become a hard-working and devoted family man who ran his own business.
Judge Fooks said Lovell had allowed himself to get drawn back into a world where vulnerable and desperate addicts were the victims for which his motivation had been financial.
Money laundering was a more serious offence here than it was in England as it brought greater adverse consequences for Guernsey business and therefore the community as a whole.
‘The good reputation of the island and its banking has to be protected,’ she said. The money laundering had been sustained over five and a half years.
Lovell received concurrent terms of 16 years and three months for the MDMA and cannabis resin offences, with lesser concurrent penalties for the other drugs. A consecutive four years and three months for money laundering took his total to 20 years and six months.
Le Cras had made a catastrophic step into serious crime for financial reasons, according to the judge.
Both men received credit for their guilty pleas.
The judge reduced Le Cras’ sentence to reflect its impact on his family, whose rights under the Human Rights Convention had to be considered, and because he could be treated as being of previous good character.
He was jailed for 13 years and seven months for the MDMA and cannabis resin offences, with lesser and concurrent terms for the ketamine and cannabis.
The judge ordered the drugs to be forfeited and destroyed.
Guernsey Customs & Immigration Service said it had been ‘a very challenging and lengthy investigation’. It added that the tenacity of its officers and Economic & Financial Crime Bureau investigators, and the extent of the evidence, had led both men to plead guilty.
‘Financial investigation is a vital tool in tackling serious and organised crime, ensuring that offenders do not benefit from their offending,’ the service said.
Confiscation proceedings will now follow to determine the full benefit the pair gained from their offending and to identify any assets that can be recovered.
‘This is an important part of the process, reinforcing the principle that crime should not pay,’ the service said.