Three brothers arrested for trafficking cocaine, MDMA and ketamine to students and possessing more than a quarter of a million pounds of drugs made “the stupidest mistake of their lives”, a judge said. Philmon Goytom, 36, Yannick Goytom, 21, and Nils Tessof, 22, were dealers for the “Ricky” drug line.
Police became aware of the operation after finding a business card with the drugline's phone number outside a student accommodation in Manchester city centre, and Manchester Crown Court heard that a “preferred location” for dealers to organise drug deliveries was outside the city's Joshua Brooks “student nightclub”.
The brothers, both of whom were promising mixed martial artists before their incarceration, are now all behind bars after police combed through phone records and CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators.
read moreMissing Jay Slater: Tenerife police announce launch of massive new search
Jailing the siblings, the judge told them they had “made the stupidest mistake of their lives”, adding that they were capable of living as “productive members of society”. Prosecutor Colin Buckle told how police began investigating the drugs trafficking after finding a contact card outside an accommodation in Hulme Street. Police were able to access phone data and car number plates were messaged, allowing them to know which car customers should use to collect their drugs.
Further investigations implicated brothers who lived together in a flat in Burnage, and police searched the property in Burnage Lane just before 7am on November 1 last year while the trio was asleep.
During the investigation officers seized 297g of cocaine, worth £43,670, 252g of MDMA, worth £7,965, and 8.2kg of ketamine, worth £224,675, from the street. A shoebox filled with around £20,000 in cash was also discovered.
The three, of Burnage Lane, Manchester, pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, one charge of being concerned in the supply of MDMA and one charge of being concerned in the supply of ketamine. The judge, Mr Justice Michael Armstrong, sentenced Filmon Goytom to four years and one month in prison and Yannick Goytom and Tesfu to three years and nine months. Keith Harrison, defending Filmon Goytom, said his defendant felt “a certain degree of responsibility” for his brothers' position.
Mr Harrison said his eldest son acted as a parent to his younger siblings and worked to provide for the family. He said Goitom was “intelligent” and “qualified” and held a university degree and a master's degree. Richard Orme, representing Yannick Goitom, said his client had “struggled” in prison and “learned his lesson”.
Ohm said Goitom competed at a “high level” in mixed martial arts and had “the potential to represent the country in the future.” “That seems to be his raison d'être,” he said.
Lia Abukhalil, representing Nils Tesf, said Tesf was a professional mixed martial artist and also worked as a coach. The prosecution is seeking to recover ill-gotten gains and the trio are also currently under investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
