A husband and wife dubbed “Mr. and Mrs. Bling” after pleading guilty to drug and proceeds crimes are close associates of notorious Sligo mob boss Barry Young.
The couple Patrick and Misha O’Connor spent a whopping $450,000 on Rolex watches and jewelry and nearly $150,000 on vacations to Dubai, Mexico, Las Vegas and Madrid.
O’Connor was apprehended in 2020 during the massive Encrochat hack investigation after communications linked him to seizures in 2016 and 2017 and carrying a handle known as “Real Feet.”
Misha and Patrick O’Connor
The couple enjoyed an extraordinarily luxurious lifestyle from the profits of O’Connor’s drug trafficking network, even spending $180,000 to put a special hot tub in their home. Each amassed tens of thousands in cash reserves with their banks.
O’Connor admitted that he was only involved in drug trafficking for the money and had no problems with addiction, after pleading guilty to a series of drug trafficking and proceeds of crime charges.
The court also learned that his wife Misha ran a hairdressing business, which had been a dream of hers since she was young, and only escaped prison for being the caretaker of the couple’s children.
O’Connor was caught using an Encrochat phone using the alias ‘Real Feet’ discussing drug shipments from Birmingham, Liverpool and Dundalk.
He was linked to the phone thanks to images he sent of two cars that belonged to him that had been impounded and a photo of a Rolex Daytona watch that he said was also taken by police.
A court heard how O’Connor and others arranged deals over the phone for cocaine and cannabis and the supply of vacuum-packed ‘herb pollen’ to Northern Ireland and that he communicated with other handles known as ‘Padre Pio’ and Slurry Pump.
And now it can be revealed that O’Connor had worked with Sligo criminal Barry Young for years and was part of his supply chain in the North West.
Young pleaded guilty last week to leading a criminal organization and awaits sentencing.
Some of the evidence against him relates to 16,000 WhatsApp messages, but it is unknown if any details were extracted from Encrochat as Garda management chose not to act on the information provided by the French and Dutch hack of the agency, leading to thousands of arrests. and beliefs across Europe.
In court in Derry this week, O’Connor was described as the leader of an organized crime gang supplying cocaine and cannabis in the North West and was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to a range of charges.
Mark Kelly admitted to being involved in cash for cannabis transactions
O’Connor, 52, of the Old Fort in Strathfoyle, Derry, admitted to having ‘converted criminal property’ at a cost of £405,211 by buying Rolex watches and jewellery, £97,927 on overseas holiday trips from an Armagh agency and another £31,622 in a travel agency in Derry.
He admitted to being involved in a series of drug dealings, including one in 2017 where a car was pulled over with cocaine worth £700,000 (€792,000).
His wife Misha, 41, with an address in Stoneypath in Derry, admitted to a series of crimes related to the origination of crimes. Judge Philip Banington said the couple “clearly led a lifestyle that could not possibly be funded by legitimate sources of income.”
In 2016 and 2017, the police stopped vehicles transporting drugs and money five times. Later, the Encrochat phone hack linked O’Connor to other drug deals and money transfers arranged between March and June 2020.
Two men associated with O’Connor’s network, Mark Kelly (47), from Armagh, and Barry Fox (42), from Dungannon, admitted involvement in a cash and cannabis exchange in Derry after telephone calls linked them to the incident.
Benjamin Quinn, 32, from Lifford, Donegal, admitted his involvement in the cocaine seizure after phones linked him to O’Connor. Two other men, Kevin Cassidy, 47, and Blaine Curtis, 35, also pleaded drug charges.
Seizures of £103,980 and £72,480 found in a house in Armagh were also linked to O’Connor.
Justice Banington described the Encrochat hack as being carried out by French and Dutch police and said the system was “designed for and used by criminals.”
O’Connor was sentenced to seven and a half years for the first set of offenses and three and a half years consecutively for the second set – making a total of 11 years.
Misha O’Connor was sentenced to two years with a three-year reprieve, Kelly received three years with a four-year reprieve, Curtis and Fox were sentenced to 12 months in prison with a two-year reprieve. Quinn received a two-year sentence with two years’ probation and Cassidy, who was described as ‘at the bottom of the ladder’, received a 12-month sentence with 2 years’ probation.
The case is the first conviction related to the Encrochat hack in Northern Ireland. Another man has pleaded not guilty to separate charges. The judge said the information was transferred to the PSNI via Europol and the United Kingdom
National Crime Service.
“The devices were not sold to retailers and had limited functionality. They cost around £500 and were used with unregulated SIM cards, allowing for roaming. Another package could cost £1,200, with six months of data contact. They looked like a normal phone, but users required a password and could use encrypted voice calls or SMS.
Barry Fox admitted to being involved in cash for cannabis transactions
To contact other users, the sender had to know the recipient’s name, and the phones had the option to clear the date and delete all communications.
“What mattered during the Encrochat investigation was that the encrypted devices were being used by criminals and there was no evidence whatsoever that they were being used by innocent people.
“In June 2020, Encrochat became aware of the hack and sent a warning message to their users. They told all users to turn off and throw away their devices. As a result, very few handsets were discovered.