A TRUSTED gang adherent known as ‘Rocket Man’ who laundered hundreds of thousands of euro for the Kinahan cartel has been jailed for five years and three months by the Special Criminal Court, while his partner and co-accused has walked from court with a suspended sentence.
Jonathan Harding, of Kerdiff Avenue, Naas, Co Kildare, was caught after he was spotted by gardaí leaving an arsenal of firearms and ammunition that could arm a small country .
Sources told
Independent.ie that he became a focus of major Garda attention after dozens of trips were made to Spain’s so-called ‘Costa Del Crime’ by cartel gang members.
A third man Samuel Pop also admitted his part in the Roscommon attack.
The two Brazilian victims were too scared to give an impact statement against their attackers, it emerged in court.
This week it was heard that Galben told gardaí the women in Parnell Street would not pay a “tax” to a criminal gang and that he had been “brainwashed” into collecting the cash by the gang. The married father-of-two said he was in fear of members of the gang and expressed remorse. Galben has previous convictions in Romania for robbery, assault, threats, and public order offences. Judge Pauline Codd said the offence was aggravated by the fact that the accused was part of a gang who were involved in exploiting vulnerable women working as prostitutes at the time.