Two men who ran a class A drugs line supplying dealers further down the chain have been jailed for a combined total of more than ten years.
Jayden Williams, 21, and Marcus Gonzales, 42, were sentenced at Newport Crown Court on Friday after both pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
How the pair were caught
Police stopped a car in Bridgend on May 6 after it emerged that Williams was in breach of a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO). Both men were inside, along with calling cards promoting a drugs line known as the “JB line”.
Phone evidence
Messages recovered from the defendants’ phones showed the pair were dealing wholesale quantities of heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine, the court heard. The JB line was used by other suppliers to buy drugs which they then sold on to street users.
Prosecutor Abdallah Barakat told the court Gonzales had been using the name Mark Griffiths, and had exchanged messages with Williams about half ounce deals of class A drugs. The messages included recognised drugs terms such as “dark” and “white”.
In one message to Gonzales, Williams wrote: “I’ll smash you out now, I’m not giving my number out to some crack head to f*** it up”.
Mr Barakat said Williams held overall authority over the JB line, with Gonzales also playing a leading role.
Mitigation
Alice Sykes, representing Williams, said he had been recalled to prison for breaching the SCPO and would receive no reduction in his sentence for the time he has already served.
Adam Sharp, for Gonzales, said his client was a drug addict who also suffers with anxiety and depression, and argued he sat lower in the chain than his co-defendant.
Sentencing
Jayden Williams, of no fixed abode, was jailed for five years by Judge Williams.
Gonzales, of Broadway, Cardiff, was jailed for five years and seven months.
