A former All-Ireland club football champion has been found guilty of theft, money laundering and possession of more than €400,000 in cash that was stolen from ATMs by a criminal gang in 2019.
Daniel O'Callaghan, 31, from Monog Road, Crossmaglen in Co Armagh, had denied all the charges in connection with the theft and attempted theft of the cash from ATMs.
He was caught after one of the raids was foiled by gardaí.
O'Callaghan, who played Gaelic football for Crossmaglen Rangers, is the fifth member of an organised crime gang involved in ATM raids to be convicted at the Special Criminal Court.
Ms Justice Tara Burns said today that O'Callaghan was "intimately involved" with the organised crime group that carried out six ATM raids between December 2018 and April 2019.
He was part of a gang that stole cash from ATMs across the northeast of the country by ripping the machines from the walls of banks, hotels and petrol stations.
More than €777,000 was stolen in six ATM raids in Ballybay and Castleblaney in Co Monaghan, Kingscourt in Cavan and Kells in Co Meath in five months.
However, gardaí intercepted the gang before they pulled another ATM from the walls of the Riverfront Bar and Restaurant on Main Street, Virginia, Co Cavan, in August 2019.
Gardaí watched a convoy with a stolen Toyota Landcruiser, stolen trailer and a stolen digger arrive at the ATM before they moved in.
O'Callaghan jumped from the driver's side of the Landcruiser and ran into a field along with two other gang members. They were arrested and while O'Callaghan got away, his DNA was found in a nearby outhouse, and he was subsequently arrested and charged.
Gardaí later found two plastic bags in Moynalty in Co Meath, with over €298,000, and six days later another €103,000, and €22,000 in cash.
O'Callaghan denied all charges but was convicted of 16 offences at the Special Criminal Court today, including theft, money laundering, possession of stolen cash and being involved with a criminal gang.
He was remanded in custody for sentencing next month.
One gang member, Niall Finnegan, has already been jailed for three years, while three brothers - Ciaran, Stephen and Gerard Duffy - have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
