Kenneth Philpott: former Casino manager (64) agreed to have € 200k of cannabis to pay for the game debt

Kenneth Philpott (64) was arrested after being seen by Gardai driving in a bus lane,

Philpott of River Forest, Leixlip, Kildare, declared himself guilty in the Criminal Court of the Dublin Circuit for possession of drugs on April 10, 2024. He has no previous convictions.

When approved the sentence yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan said that certain parties had taken advantage of their game debt with the traffic of these drugs. He said Philpott had made a great erroneous judgment as he agreed.

The judge took into account the mitigation in the case, including his cooperation, good history, work registration and the level of fear and coercion involved.

Judge Nolan said that drug crimes like this were “well trampled” for the court.

He said this was a “very normal case” where obligations were created through the behavior of the parties before taking advantage of the obligation. He said Philpott was a mature man who made a very bad decision.

Judge Nolan said he could depart from the minimum mandatory sentence of ten years due to the circumstances of the case, but said it was a substantial amount of drugs.

He established a sentence of six years in prison, but said that when there was a very good mitigation, he would reduce it in two and imposed a three -year prison sentence.

Garda Ronan Doolin described before the court that Gardai stopped an observed car when entering the bus lane. The driver, Philpott, was cooperative but very nervous causing suspicions and a car search.

Philpott told Gardai that there were packages in the car and Gardai recovered 7 kg of cannabis in engraved packages, valued at € 140,000.

During a search for home tracking, Gardai recovered another € 80,000 cannabis.

Philpott gave Gardai admissions in relation only to his own role. He said he had worked most of his life working and managing casinos, but suffered a stroke two years before, so he had to reduce speed.

I was working as a crupier throughout Dublin, but had created a game debt of € 2,400 from the cards.

Philpott, described as a working man from a good family with an adult daughter, had not been put under pressure to pay the debt up to a week before this crime.

He described being terrified by the people he was working for.

The court heard that threats against his family and home were made and felt that he had no choice.

He traveled from his home to collect drugs, dropped some home and spilled and then returned to collect a second load. He headed home with the second load when Gardai stopped him.

The defense lawyer said that Philpott was a good family man whose wife and daughter have always been his priority.

He has been receiving advice from anonymous players and was regretted for his participation in this crime. He delivered a letter from the accused to the judge.

He said Philpott had been very successful in martial arts in his previous life and represented Ireland in many tournaments.

He asked the court to keep in mind that he was someone who had lived his entire adult life as a constructive and productive member of society and his community.

He had been completely self -sufficient life, worked hard and raised his daughter.

He said his client had made immediate admissions and Gardai did not play the threats he described. He did not anticipate that he came before the courts again.

The lawyer said that his client “should not be here, but he is here” and is being responsible for the reasons for the court.