A 47-year-old Ennis man yesterday received a four-year suspended sentence for his role in smuggling almost four million cigarettes into Ireland four years ago.
At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Patrick Brennan of Mountain View, Ennis, received the sentence after being found guilty by a jury at the end of a five-day trial of attempting to defraud the State through importing 3,925,000 cigarettes into Ireland.
At the sentencing hearing yesterday, Judge Michael White told Brennan he was "a very lucky man" not to be receiving a substantial custodial sentence.
Brennan's co-accused, the late Jamie O'Connor of Tubber, had pleaded guilty to the offence in the District Court, but died last year in a road traffic accident before the case was determined in the Circuit Court.
The court was told that Customs and Excise inspectors had the truck containing the cigarettes under surveillance after it arrived from Greece into Ireland on December 5th, 2001.
Brennan was arrested by Customs officials and gardaí in a joint operation during a swoop on an Ennis warehouse on December 6th, 2001. The total value of the consignment was €895,036, while the loss to the Exchequer would have been €621,442.
Judge White said he would not impose a custodial sentence, and imposed a four-year sentence, suspending it for four years. Mr Brennan was also ordered to pay a fine of €3,000.
