Bristol man jailed after pleading guilty to drug conspiracy charges
23-year-old Jamie Russell pleaded guilty and was sentenced last week (August 24)
A man from Bristol has been sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to four offences - in connection with supplying heroin and cocaine in the city.
23-year-old Jamie Russell was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court last Thursday (August 24), with the drugs involved worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Russell was tracked by officers from Avon and Somerset Police and was seen to control a drug supply telephone line, which operated in Redcliffe between March and June this year.
On June 20, he then tried to evade officers, but was unsuccessful in his efforts.
He discarded items in the Malago stream in south Bristol before being arrested and charged by police - which led to officers conducting a thorough search of the culvert Russell had hidden in.
They found a mobile phone linked to the drug line concealed inside it.
Another search of his home - in Victoria Street - found more than ÂŁ2,000 worth of heroin and cocaine inside, alongside a knuckle duster and 'drug-dealing paraphernalia'.
A drugs expert witness involved in the case estimated the value of heroin and crack cocaine dealing orchestrated by Russell was approximately ÂŁ40,000 and ÂŁ60,000 in the three months before his arrest.
Inspector Steve Davey said: “Russell and those like him cause immeasurable harm to our communities, often preying on and exploiting the most vulnerable for their own personal gain and furthering the harm done by class A drugs.
"This sentence shows the seriousness of the of the offence and how drug dealing will not be tolerated in Avon and Somerset, no matter the lengths any criminal will go to in an effort to hide crucial evidence.”
Russell was charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, and one further count each of possession of a bladed article and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place.
He received a prison sentence totalling three years and four months.