A 41-YEAR-OLD former escort who tried to leave Jersey with £8,020 in suspected drug money has been given a 16-month suspended sentence.
Kasie Ellis sobbed in court as Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae told her she would not be going to prison, provided she did not reoffend within the next two years.
The Royal Court heard yesterday(MON) that Ellis travelled from Barry in south Wales to Jersey to meet a client, who asked her to take the money back to the UK.
Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said that Ellis arrived in the Island on 8 January but tested positive for Covid and was ordered to self-isolate in a hotel for ten days.
However, she breached the conditions, as CCTV footage showed her leaving the hotel and visiting The Royal Yacht with a man who was unnamed in court but ‘known to the authorities’.
He then gave her the money, the court was told.
Ellis tried to return to the UK on 11 January but was arrested at the Airport for breaking the Covid rules. The police then discovered the money.
During a police interview, Ellis initially claimed it was money she had earned from working as a care assistant and as a prostitute while in the Island. On 17 March she eventually pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Advocate Hallam said: ‘The money can only have been the proceeds of crime. Acting as a courier facilitates criminal activity.’
Ellis said she knew the money came from crime but denied knowing what the nature of the crime was. But Advocate Hallam said previous cases showed that a lack of knowledge should not be treated as a mitigating factor.
And she said that drugs were strongly suspected because ‘no other credible explanation has been put forward’.
The court heard that Ellis had previous convictions for theft, possession of drugs and attempting to obtain money by making a false representation, and was assessed as at medium risk of reconviction.
Advocate Hallam recommended a sentence of 18 months in prison.
However, Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, defending, asked the Jurats to impose a suspended sentence ‘as an act of mercy’.
She pointed out that Ellis had had a very difficult upbringing, with both her parents being jailed for drug dealing when she was eight years old.
‘She was extremely vulnerable. She had turned to escort work in desperation, in order to obtain money to provide for her daughter,’ the advocate said.
‘The man knew that Miss Ellis was vulnerable. She was preyed upon as an easy target,’ she added.
She pointed out that Ellis was a single mother to a ten-year-old daughter and sole carer for her 65-year-old mother, who suffered from epilepsy, dementia and diabetes and had had several strokes. She has been her mother’s registered carer for the past 16 years.
Advocate Dix said: ‘She wants a better life for her daughter. She no longer conducts escort work. She wants to put all this behind her.’
Delivering the court’s sentence, Mr MacRae said: ‘You were not here to work as a care assistant or a prostitute. You were here to collect the proceeds of crime and you did so knowingly.
‘Without people like you, drug traffickers would be unable to operate successfully in this Island.
‘We do find that there are exceptional circumstances. Extended time away from your daughter would be detrimental to her.’
Ellis will also be subject to a probation order in Wales during the duration of her two-year suspended sentence.
Jurats Jerry Ramsden and Kim Averty were sitting.
