Brit Gets Jail Term For Smuggling Drugs To Pay Off $60K Poker Debt

Updated On Nov 4, 2021 by Natalie Whitehead

Andrew John Bennett Brit Andrew John Bennett will live regretting two decisions in his life that caused him to be sentenced to 7.5 years in a Jersey prison. His first decision was to borrow over $60,000 to keep playing poker and his second decision was to smuggle drugs into Jersey to replay his poker debt.

Jersey is the biggest of Channel islands that are situated between France and England. A lot of Brits end up going to Jersey for a holiday and to have fun. Bennett told officers that he was visiting Jersey to play poker but wasn’t very clear as to where two poker clubs were located.

Bennett showed up in Jersey on April 30, 2021 with over 125g of cocaine that was 60 percent pure.

Authorities in Jersey claim that the wholesale value for 125g of cocaine was around £9,000 and £11,000 in wholesale prices while on the street it could fetch you up to £18,000-£25,000. He was caught by airport authorities after they found a bank card in his possession that belonged to someone else and a carrier bag that had cocaine.

When he was questioned, he admitted that he had accumulated $60,000 in debts paying poker and since he did not have the money to repay his benefactor, he was asked to smuggle drugs into Jersey to repay the debt. Bennett claimed that he was drunk when he played poker and ran up a $60,000 debt.

His legal defense told the Jersey court that Bennett was not a regular drug mule but someone who was trying to get himself out of a mess that resulted from a bad game of poker. The Judge decided to give him 6 years jail time for smuggling cocaine.

Was It Just A Poker Debt?

While his legal defense spun the story of him being a victim of a poker debt gone wrong, the prosecution painted another picture. Bennett was asked to share with the authorities his password for his phone and tablet but he chose not to do so. He was informed that failing to share his password with the authorities could result in another 15 months of jail time.

He still chose not to disclose his passwords and was willing to take an additional 15 months in jail. The prosecution allege that he is a drug mule and the poker debt story is likely a front!

If there is one topic that really gets Natalie excited it has to be the mathematics of gambling, having worked for a major gaming company in the audit department she loves nothing more than revealing all manner of facts and figures. Many of her news stories relate to both online and bricks and mortar gaming and are always worth...

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