Footballers who turned to criminal underworld as ex-prodigy, international star and semi-pro gang jailed over drug plots

SEVERAL footballers who turned to crime following their sporting careers were prosecuted this year.

From an ex-Liverpool prodigy to a Dutch international, high-profile athletes have been implicated in plots to supply drugs – with a number of them being jailed.

Jamie Cassidy who was jailed, along with Nasar Ahmed and Jonathan Cassidy, at Manchester Crown CourtHere, we reveal the former footie stars who have been caught on the wrong side of the law.

Jamie CassidyFormer Liverpool football prodigy Jamie Cassidy, 46, was jailed for more than 13 years for being involved in a multimillion-pound drug conspiracy.

Earlier this year, Cassidy was jailed – along with two others – for involvement in the plot to supply cocaine, dealing 356kg, worth roughly £26million.

He was sentenced to 13 years and three months.

His brother Jonathan Cassidy, 50, and another man, Nasar Ahmed, 51, were each jailed for 21 years and nine months.

Jamie Cassidy had played at Liverpool FC with Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen as they went on to win the FA Youth Cup in 1996.

He was signed by Liverpool at age nine and earned one of just 16 places at the FA’s centre of excellence, going on at age 15 to become a leading scorer for England’s under-16s.

But early in his senior career, he suffered serious injuries that “entirely wrecked his career”, his defence barrister Paul Greaney KC told Manchester Crown Court.

Jason Pusey

Jason Pusey, 34, was sentenced to 11 years and three monthsGibraltarian former footballer Jason Pusey, 34, was sentenced to 11 years and three months imprisonment on July 2 at Kingston-Upon-Hull Crown Court.

The former Atletico Madrid player was jailed after a Met Police investigation accessed his Encrochat device and discovered an operation using south London gangs to supply cocaine and cannabis with an estimated street value of £3million.

Pusey, of Market Weighton, York, was sentenced for his role in the supply of 107kg of cocaine, 235kg of ketamine, and 447kg of cannabis.

Detective Constable Duncan Askew, responsible for the investigation from the Met’s Specialist Crime team , said“Pusey arranged “large-scale drug deals while also maintaining a well-respected football career”.

He added: “On the surface he appeared as a doting family man – but he was making millions sending commercial scale amounts of controlled drugs to south London gangs.

“He did this all with no thought of the misery and devastation caused in London communities by drug supply, and the violence it leads to.

“Operation Eternal investigations over the last three years have resulted in the Met identifying and jailing major players in the criminal fraternity, and stemming the flow of drugs and guns onto the streets.

“The drugs trade relies upon exploitation and violence to operate and we will continue to relentlessly pursue those involved, and put them before the courts.”

Detectives from the Met closed in on Pusey and began investigating the Encrochat handle ‘IrregularFog’ in June 2020.

EncroChat is an encrypted communication network.

Evidence showed that between March 2020 and June 2020 Pusey was the sole user of the encrypted EncroChat mobile phone and was involved in the whole sale distribution of class A and B drugs.

Passwords matched the names and date of births of Pusey’s family members,the locations of the EncroChat phone matched those of his mobile phone, and messages on the device matched Pusey’s extremely specific travel details.

There was evidence within the EncroChat device which showed that Pusey had been running a very successful drug operation.

The EnchroChat device also had on it many messages regarding the importation of the Class A drugs into the UK and the very detailed routes being used by different importers and couriers.

Pusey was arrested at his home address on June 20, 2023 and charged on June 21 with the offences.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drug (cocaine), conspiracy to supply Class A (Ketamine), and conspiracy to supply Class B (Cannabis) at Kingston-Upon-Hull Crown Court on Wednesday, 26 July 2023.

Quincy Promes

Quincy Promes of Spartak Moscow in action during a training sessionOn September 5 this year it was revealed that former Dutch international Quincy Promes was to resume his career in the United Arab Emirates.

He has been fighting extradition to the Netherlands after being sentenced to six years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking.

The striker, who has 50 caps for the Netherlands, joined United FC of Dubai who play in the second tier, the club said on social media.

A Dutch court said earlier this year that Promes had been directly involved with the shipments of 1,360kg of cocaine from Brazil through the port of Antwerp, Belgium, to the Netherlands in two shipments in 2020.

The 32-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Sevilla forward was arrested in Dubai in March at the request of the Dutch public prosecution service when he was at a training camp with Russian club Spartak Moscow.

Last year, Promes was also sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail for assault in connection with a fight in 2020 in which he stabbed a cousin in the knee.

Promes has denied all charges and has filed an appeal in both cases.

In May he was released from detention under restrictions, which include not leaving the United Arab Emirates.

Spartak Moscow terminated his contract at the end of June.

Paul MacDonald

Paul MacDonald pictured between 2006 and 2007In November 2023, a former Scotland youth team footballer who turned to serious organised crime was jailed for seven years after being convicted of running a massive drug-trafficking operation.

Ex-Hearts player Paul MacDonald, then 35, hid thousands of pounds in drugs money at safe houses in Glasgow and told accomplices in encrypted text messages he could make £1.9million a month from buying and selling cocaine.

In one message, he claimed he and co-accused Craig Balloch would “still get a million quid after bills are paid”.

Another message revealed MacDonald discussing buying and selling expensive watches and purchasing a £250,000 property in Spain.

MacDonald, who played for Hearts, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after pleading guilty to being involved in serious organised crime.

Balloch, 30, of Rutherglen, was imprisoned for seven and a half years after he also admitted being involved in serious organised crime.

Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: “These two individuals were responsible for the supply of drugs on a huge scale.

“They failed in their attempts to conceal the money they made from their crimes.

“They are now serving lengthy prison sentences thanks to a successful COPFS prosecution and an extensive police operation to tackle and disrupt serious organised crime.

“I hope that these convictions and the sentence send a strong message to others involved in this kind of criminal behaviour and demonstrates the ability of police and prosecutors to investigate, prepare and prosecute serious and organised crime of this nature.

“We are targeting all people who threaten communities across Scotland, not only drug couriers but also those who direct their movements.

“The Crown will continue working with the police and other agencies as a member of Scotland’s Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce to ensure that these crimes are detected and those responsible prosecuted using all measures at our disposal.”

The court heard how Balloch persuaded one individual to allow her home to be used to store large amounts of cash as part payment of a debt the former footballer was owed.

When police officers searched the property in April 2020, they discovered £444,560 hidden in bags, envelopes and packages, while £146,750 was found at a second property.

But MacDonald and Balloch’s illegal scheme was thwarted after police decoded the encrypted messages and carried out searches at both men’s homes.

Both men were set to be made the subject of confiscation orders under proceeds of crime legislation.

Semi-pros

Melchi Emanuel-Williamson was jailed for 14 years

Jamarl Joseph, 28, of Wembley, who played for FK Senica in Slovakia, got 17 years, six months

Enfield Town centre-half Adam Pepara, 35, from Solihull, got 24 years

Chesham striker Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, 29, of North Kensington, got 18 years, nine monthsIn May 2024, a gang of semi-pro footballers who planned to supply £260million in drugs were jailed.

Their plot was smashed by police when Luke Skeete, 36, was caught with eight kilos of cocaine in a van.

Officers recovered 123kg of the drug from storage units in West London. Skeete, of West Drayton, and five others admitted conspiracy to supply at Isleworth crown court.

He got 13 years in jail.

Enfield Town centre-half Adam Pepara, 35, from Solihull, got 24 years.

Chesham striker Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, 29, of North Kensington, got 18 years, nine months.

Jamarl Joseph, 28, of Wembley, who played for FK Senica in Slovakia, got 17 years, six months.

Harrow Borough FC’s Andrew Harewood, 34, of North Acton, got 16 years.

Margate’s Melchi Emanuel- Williamson, 29, of North Acton, got 14 years.