Jonathan Cassidy, who likened himself to drug baron Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, was caged for 21 years and nine months in March last year for his role in a major drugs plot
23:21, 10 Jun 2025
Jamie's brother Jonathan Cassidy sent images of El Chapo on his Encro device
Jonathan thinks he shouldn't be behind bars for so long(Image: Police handout)
A man who compared himself to notorious drug lord 'El Chapo' has had his appeal against his sentence dismissed. Jonathan Cassidy was a key player in an international drug conspiracy that involved importing cocaine from the Netherlands and distributing it across north-west England, Birmingham, and Leeds.
He orchestrated the operation alongside his younger brother Jamie, a former Liverpool FC footballer, and business associate Nasar Ahmed. The trio handled 356kg of the drug, valued at approximately £26million, with £10million in cash transactions occurring within a three-month period, as revealed in Manchester Crown Court last year.
Prosecutors in court stated that Cassidy had sent a photo of the actor portraying drug kingpin Joaquin Guzma, also known as 'El Chapo', from the Netflix series Narcos to an associate. He even quipped that they shared the same birthday.
Nasar Ahmed and Jonathan Cassidy
The pair was jailed for their role in a huge drug ring(Image: PA)
Jonathan Cassidy received a sentence of 21 years and nine months in March of the previous year after confessing to importing drugs, conspiring to supply drugs, and conspiring to transfer criminal property.
His legal team argued that the sentencing judge did not adequately acknowledge his guilty pleas and failed to consider mitigating factors sufficiently. However, a panel of three judges rejected this argument in a verdict released on Monday, reports the Mirror.
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The Court of Appeal judges, Lord Justice Fraser, Mr Justice Hilliard and Mr Justice Constable, were firm in their stance, stating they were "not persuaded" that the sentence was "manifestly excessive or reached after an error of principle". They also threw out an appeal attempt by Cassidy's accomplice, Nasar Ahmed, who pleaded guilty to the same charges and was handed an identical prison stretch.
Jamie Cassidy
The footballer was a drug lord on the side(Image: PA)
Cassidy was pinpointed as a key player in the drug importation racket and the trade of class A substances, while Ahmed was identified as the go-between, shuffling huge wads of cash to orchestrate drug deals, according to prosecutor Richard Wright KC at Manchester Crown Court.
Following the breach of the encrypted EncroChat network by police forces - where Cassidy went by the alias "WhiskyWasp" - he jetted off to Dubai in July 2020. While there, he scoped out a villa with a hefty £2.3 million price tag, complete with a £22,000 bed.
Cassidy returned to British soil in October of the same year but was nabbed by the authorities on arrival.
EncroChat messages revealed Cassidy's first foray into cocaine smuggling occurred in early March 2020, involving a staggering 194kg haul of the narcotic, stamped with snowman logos, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
Nasar Ahmed
Nasar was also one of the outfit's king pins(Image: PA)
Jonathan Cassidy was handed his sentence alongside his younger brother, Jamie Cassidy, a former Liverpool football prodigy who played alongside renowned footballers Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen in the Liverpool side that clinched the FA Youth Cup in 1996. Jamie Cassidy received a 13-year and three-month sentence for his involvement in conspiring to supply drugs and conspiring to transfer criminal property, with prosecutors stating that he was "drawn in" to a life of crime by his older brother.
Following their initial sentencing in February last year, detective constable Marc Walby from Greater Manchester Police's serious organised crime group remarked: "Jonathan Cassidy and his colleagues got far too comfortable with their encrypted phones and began bragging about their personal lives, but this just confirmed what we already knew about them. Ironically, it was this bravado and these messages which have landed them in jail for a long time."
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Lord Justice Fraser dismissed the appeals lodged by Jonathan Cassidy and Ahmed, stating that both individuals were well aware of "what their conduct had been and the degree to which it was unlawful". He further noted that despite defendants in other EncroChat cases receiving greater credit for guilty pleas, there was "no one single 'EncroChat discount'" that should be applied.
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