A big-time drug dealer chatted with 'Terry f***ing Tibbs' and 'Tyrion Lannister' about huge amounts of cocaine. Jared Williams, 35, has been locked up for almost 13 years after his double life was exposed following the hacking of the EncroChat network.
Williams, a father from Urmston, was described as a 'valuable member of his family' and references to his character spoke in 'extremely positive' terms. But he was revealed to have been embroiled in serious crime after being unmasked as the man behind the 'Earthstrong' username on the highly secretive network often used by criminals until it was hacked by law enforcement.
Williams was in contact with at least 13 contacts within EncroChat. The usernames of those he was in touch with included 'Terry f***ing Tibbs', a character from the Channel 4 comedy show Facejacker and 'Tyrion Lannister', one of the main characters from the hit TV show Game of Thrones. Their true identities were not disclosed in court.
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As well as cocaine, Williams dealt in MDMA, ketamine and cannabis. Manchester Crown Court heard that he acquired and supplied at least 10 kilos of cocaine and MDMA, at least six kilos of ketamine and seven kilos of cannabis, prosecutor Andrew Smith said. In one chat, Williams offered 'Terry f***ing Tibbs' cocaine with a 'Bentley' stamp at a price of £38,750.
In another, 'Tyrion Lannister' offered Williams cocaine for £39,250, and Williams later offered another username cocaine priced at £39,000. Messages recovered from the network, which has been described as 'WhatsApp for criminals', showed Williams had been involved in similar discussions from April to June in 2020.
In May another EncroChat user named 'Mike Bassett' sent Williams a warning about rumours that the police may have infiltrated the network. But Williams continued using his device.
He was eventually arrested at his home in Reddish in May last year, after the EncroChat messages were handed to GMP by the European law enforcement behind the successful hack. Williams said he first became involved in the drugs trade as a user himself when he was embroiled in a deal to pay off a debt.
Defending, David Toal described Williams as a 'middle man' who made 'relatively modest' profit from his involvement. But the judge said Williams was a 'sophisticated' and 'trusted' dealer who had a 'leading role' within the drugs underworld.
"I am satisfied from the messages that you had a directing role and you were also organising the buying and selling of drugs on a commercial scale," Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told Williams. Williams, of Holly Avenue, Urmston, pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to supply drugs, and was jailed for 12 years and nine months.
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