A personal trainer and former soldier suffered a panic attack as he was jailed for his role as a cocaine broker under the EncroChat alias "Edible Tequila". Anthony Maguire, 42, of Sycamore Court in Toxteth, was convicted for the third time for drug trafficking.
EncroChat dealings and conviction
Maguire used the encrypted platform to trade wholesale quantities of cocaine. He acted as a "broker" before the network was infiltrated by French police in 2020. Prosecutors said he plotted deals for at least 15kg of cocaine, though Maguire maintains only 6kg was supplied. Messages exchanged between March and June 2020 were described as "only a snapshot of the operation."
Suzanne Payne, prosecuting, said: "He operated almost every single day despite the covid lockdown and demonstrated extensive knowledge about the cocaine trade. He plainly had an expectation of substantial financial advantage."
Military service and personal struggles
Maguire served in the King's Regiment in Afghanistan, where he witnessed four friends shot dead and was seriously wounded. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. His defence lawyer, Julian Nutter, told the court: "He had seen at least four of his good friends shot dead in front him. He has shown me a wound in his arm which came from the other side and he, when the army gave him up, was undoubtedly suffering from post traumatic stress disorder."
Nutter added: "As the crown were opening the case, he was panting and reacting. He was having a panic attack in front of the court. He is not the full shilling, I am afraid, to put it as bluntly as that."
Previous convictions and football coaching
Maguire has 11 previous convictions for 13 offences, including two years for heroin supply in 2005 and 33 months for cocaine supply in 2010. He also received a suspended sentence for money laundering in 2015. Despite his criminal history, he was a kids' football coach and worked as a personal trainer. Nutter stated: "The young children regarded him as something of a superhero. They looked up to him. That made him proud of himself again."
Return to crime during pandemic
After the gym where he worked closed due to covid restrictions, Maguire returned to drug dealing. Nutter said: "He had to keep things going through covid. Some people had been dealing well before that. He certainly had until 2010. He had come out of it. He was working in a gym. Of course, the gym shut. He agreed to a suggestion from somebody up the tree that he was given a phone to work."
Maguire admitted one count of conspiracy to supply cocaine. Appearing via video link, he nodded and rubbed his hands as he was sentenced to nine years. Supporters hugged in the public gallery.
Judge's remarks
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: "This was a system of communication well known to be popular with those involved in high level organised criminality. Users communicated more freely than would otherwise be the case because they believed their messages to be secure."
He added: "On any view, that which has been proven will be a conservative estimate as the operation was ongoing, indeed, it appears that this was not your first EncroChat handle, and no doubt continued after the data stopped being harvested. This was offending towards the very upper tiers of drug dealing. It is aggravated, significantly so, by your directly relevant previous convictions. This is effectively your third conviction for class A drug dealing."
