A dad whose criminal underworld dealings were exposed when law enforcement cracked an EncroChat network said he was seduced by the prospect of "easy money". Kurt Jervis became entangled in a "large scale" cocaine operation worked as a courier for Stockport based drugs boss Aaron Wright.
Jervis, who described the murky world he descended into as "proper serious and organised crime", was linked to 39 kilos of the class A drug. Wright, 37, was said to be involved with at least 60 kilos of cocaine, Manchester Evening News reports.
Wright and Jervis, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply a class A drug and conspiring to conceal criminal property. An encrypted phone system previously thought to be impenetrable was accessed by law enforcement which revealed everything the pair had been up to.
In one message to Wright, using his EncroChat username 'One Sicario', Jervis, who has a teenage son, said: "Proper serious and organised crime this bro. Kilos drops before 11am and 1000s passed before 1pm, no f***ing about. All while ur sat scratching ur a**."
Another exchange of messages between Wright and an EncroChat user named 'Tyrion Lannister', said to be the leading light in the gang alongside Wright, revealed the scale of the dealing they were involved in. Lannister said: "F***ing hell mate, we done 60 jobs in last six weeks."
Wright, who was known as 'Hedgeracer' and 'The Big Axelrod' on the encrypted platform, replied: "Exactly." Lannister continued: "We need our own f***ing TP (transport)."
"If was off 1 guy we be flying...ano bro," Wright replied. While Lannister said: "Bro serious now if we was buying at cost we would out sell anyone."
The pair could have made an estimated £84,000 over a six week period if the messages were correct.
Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: "The EncroChat cases have revealed a layer of criminality of a type that previously only quite rarely came before the crown courts. This was very large scale dealing."
Wright was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison, while Jervis received nine years and four months.
Defending Jervis, Michael Lavery said the defendant became involved after finding himself in "dire financial circumstances" following the breakdown of a relationship. "He turned to his involvement in this conspiracy really for easy money," Mr Lavery said.
"It has proved to be far from that." Defending Wright, Oliver Cook said the defendant had made efforts to improve himself while on remand.
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