Man convicted in €32 m crystal meth case 'viciously beaten' in Portlaoise Prison

A businessman convicted in relation to a €32 million crystal meth seizure was attacked and had his jaw broken in Portlaoise Prison in recent weeks. 

A Special Criminal Court hearing was told that Nathan McDonnell(44), a once respected businessman from Kerry, had been “viciously assaulted” in Portlaoise Prison while awaiting sentencing. 

The former chief executive of Ballyseedy Restaurant Ltd, which was part of a Co Kerry business that spanned three generations, was present in court today wearing a face mask after having his jaw broken in Portlaoise Prison during an alleged assault by a well-known gangland inmate. The court heard he has undergone surgery to attach screws, wires and two plates to his jaw.

McDonnell's barrister, Michael Bowman SC, informed the court at the outset of the hearing that his client was "viciously assaulted" and would require additional security features during the duration of his sentence. Counsel said the prison sentence would be more onerous on him than it may be for other prisoners. He asked that the court take into account the danger the defendant would face in prison.  

McDonnell was "committed to and invested in" the success of a €32m crystal meth operation by an organised crime group with links to the notorious Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, the Special Criminal Court has found. 

McDonnell, who had encountered "fierce financial difficulties" and racked up debts of €4m, was to be paid €150,000 by the Irish gang to store a machine containing the drugs on his premises and arrange for its export to Australia. 

Sentencing McDonnell to 12 years at the non-jury court today, presiding judge Ms Justice Melanie Greally said to describe the defendant as "a mere cog in the wheel" was to undervalue his role. She said McDonnell had carried out several tasks which demanded a high level of trust and responsibility for the criminal gang, including paying shipping charges, safely storing the drugs for four months and using a family contact to help with export requirements.

Ms Justice Greally emphasised in her judgment that "the most punitive aspect of punishment" McDonnell will suffer is being absent from the lives of his three young sons for the vast majority of their childhood years. 

The judge said the defendant had deceived a legitimate business owner and took responsibility for a forged invoice to facilitate the onward shipment of the machine concealing the drugs. She noted he was "committed to and invested in" the success of the venture. 

Regarding McDonnell's knowledge of the nature and quantity of the drugs, Ms Justice Greally found the defendant had ample information about the origin of the machine concealing the drugs, its destination and the involvement of a named individual "to enable him to join the dots".

She added: "He demonstrated recklessness and indifference which was tantamount to knowledge". 

The judge said the court could not find evidence that he was under duress when he first chose to embark on the venture. 

The non-jury court was previously told that custom officers operating on intelligence had stopped and inspected a container in Cork Port on February 15, 2024.

Operatives had to work over two days using angle grinders to open up the metal separating machine which had arrived in Cork Port from Central America via Antwerp and the UK, eventually recovering bags of crystal meth valued at €32.4 million. The drugs were to be sent to Australia from Cork Port but gardai swooped in just as the machine was about to leave the jurisdiction.  

Gardai, the court heard, had been engaged for over a year investigating an organised criminal group (OCG) operating in the Kerry district. Detective Sergeant David Howard testified it was a "transnational organised crime group" that had one of its "logistical cells" in Kerry as well as other various cells operating in different countries. Its activities were associated with drug trafficking, money laundering and the intimidation of witnesses.

Features of this OCG had "particular connections" with another OCG placed in Mexico namely - the 'Sinaloa Cartel' - which the court was told is the "biggest drug cartel in the world and has capabilities to reach across continents", with ties to drug trafficking and murder. 

One of the locations searched was the "well-known and respectable" Ballyseedy Garden Centre and at the time McDonnell was the chief executive of the centre and companies associated with it. The machine was stored at McDonnell's garden centre in Tralee for several months before being transported to Cork, destined for export to Australia.

McDonnell admitted to gardai in his interviews that he stored the machine and was to be paid €150,000 for his part in the operation – but said he was unaware of the contents of the machine.

McDonnell was "very pessimistic" about the future of his business and hoped to make €150,000 for storing the machine and its onward transmission to Australia. However, there was no evidence that the defendant received any of that money.

The father-of-three was described by his defence counsel at that sentencing hearing as now being "effectively toxic" within his own community.

SENTENCE HANDED DOWN

Before delivering sentence today, the judge said the Irish organised crime group is suspected to have links to a transnational criminal organisation, whose activities were directed by a cartel based in Mexico.

Ms Justice Greally said a search was conducted at a property in Listowel in June 2023 where a named individual, who had undergone extensive international travel, was present. Mobile phones were seized and gardai were able to extract information from the phones, where it became apparent that a plan to import powder was being formulated, she said. The judge said a contact of that named individual, who is based in Spain and identified as 'SAN', is believed to be linked to the Sinaloa Cartel based in Mexico. 

The judge noted that the machine containing the drugs had cleared customs and a sum was paid by McDonnell for its release. She said the defendant had engaged the services of shipping agents to export the machine to Australia and a business number was sought by him through his family contacts there. She said McDonnell had arranged for the creation of a false invoice and had described the goods purchased to gardai as a 'hot magnetic separator'. 

Referring to McDonnell's initial interviews with gardai, the judge said the defendant told them that the machine was a regular business transaction and that he thought he could send the device to China to make €150,000. She pointed out that he was unable to give a delivery address for the machine, told gardai he had received no payment and didn't know what was going on. 

Ms Justice Greally said when the defendant was confronted with text messages between the named individual and 'SAN', he accepted that his involvement had been reckless. She said as the interviews progressed he acknowledged the role of the named individual and said he was in fear of him. McDonnell, she went on to say, had told gardai that the individual had exploited him, was 'scary' when he got angry and that the situation was 'like a cancer'. 

Passing sentence today, Ms Justice Greally said the court had received letters from the defendant's father and two sisters. She said McDonnell's father spoke of the "turmoil of the breakdown of his marriage" to the defendant's mother and suggested his son's judgment may have been impaired at the time in that he was trying to do too much for too many people. She said one of McDonnell's sister's had given a detailed account in her letter of how McDonnell's three young sons miss their father. 

Regarding the current position of Ballyseedy Garden Centre, the judge said the court had received a letter from a solicitor representing shareholders.

She said the cafes at Ballyseedy and other locations are now deemed insolvent and had ceased trading in February 2024. She said a crisis management team was formed in an effort to try to save the garden centre and a restaurant and preserve the jobs of 144 employees.

She said management had obtained a loan for €2.4 million, which was used to discharge a Revenue debt. The judge said new concessions are now operating at the cafe and garden centre. Whilst the business is now stable, she continued, a liquidator has been appointed to the restaurant and the aim was to sell it to pay off creditors. 

 She said McDonnell's only remaining asset is his family home, which is mortgaged. Ms Justice Greally said the court noted that the defendant is not deriving any benefit from any company within the Ballyseedy Group.

The judge said there was a level of recklessness on the defendant's part in the operation, that his motivation was financial and that he was supposed to receive €150,000 for his service.

The judge said the court accepted he was under immense financial pressure from his failing business at the time as well as "going through a challenging period in his family life". She also accepted McDonnell was in fear of the named individual, who had been angry and aggressive in his dealings with him. 

She said McDonnell had participated due to financial inducement at a time when he was financially overstretched and susceptible to such an opportunity. She said there had been a breach of trust, with the family premises used to hide the machine "in plain sight".

The judge said McDonnell's actions have led to a loss of reputation and to the demise of the family business, which had been respected in the area for generations. 

Having regard to the gravity of the offence, the judge said the court considered the case came within the exceptional category necessitating a headline sentence excessively higher than 15 years. 

Ms Justice Greally said both offences were aggravated by the fact that the criminal organisation had an "international reach" and was associated with drug trafficking, money laundering and violence on a large scale. 

In assessing McDonnell's culpability, the judge said the court had considered the vast quantities of the drug involved, as well as its highly addictive nature and the widespread misery and social harm it causes. She said the value of the drugs and the defendant's culpability must be regarded at the utmost seriousness. 

She set the headline sentence at 21 years imprisonment for the importation of drugs and at 12 years for facilitating an organised criminal gang.

In mitigation, the judge took into account that McDonnell had entered a guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity, as well as his cooperation, positive good character, lack of previous convictions, the charitable causes he has contributed to, his employment record and that he had provided jobs in the community.

She also recognised his devotion as a father to his three sons, that he had become a father figure to his siblings during 'difficult years' when his parents marriage broke up, the non-custodial punishments he has already faced, the fear he has experienced for the safety of his family, the shame and embarrassment which his wife and children have been subjected to, his poor finances and the loss of the family business. 

The judge said the court recognised that the experience of prison is likely to be very challenging for someone with McDonnell's personal history. She took into consideration the recent violent assault, which she said is evidence of the risks associated with life in prison. "He will struggle to enjoy the level of comfort he previously enjoyed," she concluded, adding that he is unlikely to reoffend. 

Ms Justice Greally, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone, then sentenced McDonnell to 12 years for drug importation and to six years concurrently for facilitating an organised crime group, backdated to when he went into custody.

Last October, McDonnell, with an address at Ballyroe, Tralee, Co Kerry pleaded guilty to importing one or more controlled drugs, namely Methylamphetamine on October 16 2023 at Cork Port, Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 to 2019, made under section 5 Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and on or about the time the drug was imported the market value of the controlled drug amounted to €13,000 or more.

He has also pleaded guilty that between October 16 2023 and February 12 2024, both dates inclusive, within the State, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he did participate in, or contribute to, activity intending to, or being reckless as to whether such participation or contribution could, facilitate the commission of a serious offence by that criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit the importation, sale and supply of controlled drugs.

McDonnell's arrest followed a joint operation by gardaí and Revenue Officers which saw the seizure of 564kg of methamphetamine, or crystal meth, from a container at Cork Port on February 16, 2024. Follow-up searches in Kerry and Cork led to the arrest of McDonnell.