Three brothers caught with more than £250,000 worth of drugs after selling cocaine, MDMA and ketamine to students made the “stupidest mistake of their lives”, a judge has heard. Filmon Goitom, 36, Yannick Goitom, 21, and Nils Tesfu, 22, were the dealers behind the ‘Ricky’ drugs line.
Police were alerted to the operation after discovering a business card with the drug hotline’s phone number outside student accommodation in Manchester city centre. A “preferred area” where dealers organized drug deliveries was outside the city’s Joshua Brooks “student nightclub”, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The brothers, both minors who had been promising mixed martial arts fighters before their imprisonment, were the subject of a riot after police recorded phone details and CCTV footage. Now everyone has been locked up.
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Jailing them, a judge told the brothers 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 row after discovering the contact card outside an accommodation in Hulme Street. Police were able to gain access to phone data showing how car license plates were sent in messages, so customers would know which vehicle to pick up the drugs.
Further investigation helped implicate the brothers, who lived together in a flat in Burnage. Police raided the property on Burnage Lane before 7am on November 1 last year while the trio slept.
During the searches, officers recovered 297 grams of cocaine, worth £43,670, 252 grams of MDMA worth £7,965 and 8.2 kilos of ketamine worth £224,675 on the streets. Shoe boxes filled with around £20,000 in cash were also discovered.
The trio, all of Burnage Lane, Manchester, pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, one count of being concerned in the supply of MDMA, one count of being concerned in the supply of ketamine. Judge Recorder Michael Armstrong sentenced Filmon Goitom to four years and one month in prison, while Yannick Goitom and Tesfu were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. Keith Harrison, defending Filmon Goitom, said the defendant felt “some degree of responsibility” for the position his younger brothers found themselves in.
He said the eldest brother has acted as a father figure to his younger siblings and has held jobs to support his family. Mr Harrison said Goitom is an “intelligent” and “qualified” man who has a university degree and a master’s degree. Richard Orme, representing Yannick Goitom, said the defendant is “struggling” in prison and has “learned his lesson”.
Orme said Goitom competes at a “high level” in mixed martial arts and has “the potential to represent his country.” “It seems to be his reason for being,” he said.
Rhia Abukhalil, Nils Tesfu’s manager, said he was a professional MMA fighter and also engaged in training. The trio now also face investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act as prosecutors seek to recover their ill-gotten gains.
