CAB agents seized an Audi Q7, containing more than €74,000 in cash and luxury goods, including designer watches, sunglasses and clothing from the home of a couple who had admitted to multiple money laundering, a court has heard.
nthony McKeever (39) of Kilmartin Crescent, Tallaght, Dublin was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to five charges of possession of the proceeds of crime in his home on dates between 21 March 2004 and 26 July 2020 .
His partner Adrienne Shepard, 36, at the same address, has been released from court with a suspended sentence after admitting to possession of the proceeds of crime at her home on various dates between June 13 and July 11, 2020.
Judge Martin Nolan, who delivered his verdict at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, said Shepard’s case was different from McKeever’s because there was recklessness on her part.
“She was intentionally blind,” said Judge Nolan, who sentenced Shepard to a year in prison but suspended the suspension entirely on the condition that she behave well for a year.
The court heard that McKeever transferred a total of $2,592, the proceeds of the crime, into Shepard’s Revolut account for her daily expenses.
Sergeant Mick McGrath said that when she was arrested, Shepard denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of her partner’s wrongdoing, but later pleaded guilty to possession of the proceeds of crime.
Sergeant McGrath agreed with Cathal McGreal BL, defensively, that Shepard had shown “naivety” and that her role was a “totally passive” one.
The court heard that both McKeever and Shepard had been most courteous and cooperative with Gardaí throughout the investigation and saved valuable Garda and CAB resources by pleading guilty.
Sergeant McGrath told Michael Hourican BL, continuing, that Gardaí and CAB officers were warranted to conduct two searches at the couple’s home in April and July 2020.
They found a total of €74,000 in cash hidden in various places, including a pillow, a bedroom closet, a wardrobe and more than €40,000 in cash hidden in an extractor hood in the kitchen.
Gardaí also seized an Audi Q7 parked outside, worth €45,000, along with two Rolex watches that turned out to be replicas.
A Louis Vuitton wallet, a Gucci watch and four other designer watches, several designer sunglasses and a black Canada Goose jacket were also recovered from the proceeds of the crime.
McKeever admitted to being in possession of two encrypted cell phones that were found in his home. Gardaí requested orders against McKeever’s accounts with AIB, the Credit Union and Revolut, all of which were found to declare unaccounted for sums of money.
Shepard has no previous convictions, while McKeever has a total of 19, including one for assault and aggravated burglary when he was a teenager, and another for drug offences.
Sergeant McGrath agreed with Pieter Le Vert BL, defending that McKeever was “not particularly advanced” in the sense that his various accounts were all in his own name and he did not try to hide them.
The court heard that McKeever and Shepard had indicated early on that they would plead guilty.
Mr Le Vert said McKeever had long suffered from Covid and now had a suppressed immune system causing him to contract infections about every two weeks.
Judge Nolan agreed that this unfortunate medical condition will make McKeever’s prison stay more difficult, but said he “undoubtedly” deserved a prison term.
“It goes without saying,” Judge Nolan said, noting that the money and car were the product of criminal behavior, but the court had not been briefed on what type of criminal behavior it was.
Mr. Le Vert said his client worked in the buying and selling of cars and was an excellent family man, caring for his grandmother nine years before her death.
McKeever has three children and was described as an excellent father with strong family support.