The sentencing of a pilot convicted for his role in the importation of over €8m worth of cocaine into the midlands three years ago has had his sentencing adjourned to allow him brief his new legal team.
Michal Luczak, 44, formerly of Primrose Avenue, Jigginstown, Naas, Co Kildare, was found guilty last October following a three-week trial at Mullingar Circuit Court.
The court heard today that Luczak had appointed a new legal team and, in order to give him time to update them, a later sentencing date was required.
Judge Roderick Maguire adjourned the case until 20 July for a sentencing hearing.
Luczak, a Polish national and father of two, was the pilot of a Cessna 182, a small four-seater light aircraft.
The jury heard how the Polish pilot departed from Abbeyshrule Aerodrome in Co Longford, a type two customs airport for passengers and baggage only, on 3 August 2022, in the Cessna 182-S aircraft.
Luczak travelled with his friend Timothy Gilchrist (57), who told the jury during the trial that he had been jailed for eleven years for his role in collecting the drugs.
Evidence was given that the two men flew to Le Touquet, a customs airport in northern France, and stayed overnight in a hotel before flying to Dieppe, a smaller airport.
The jury heard that at Dieppe airport, five large sports bags and one large suitcase were loaded onto the plane.
The trial heard the plane then returned directly to Abbeyshrule Aerodrome in Co Longford, landing in the early evening of 4 August.
On that day, Garda surveillance was put in place, and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), supported by other units, was monitoring the aircraft.
When the plane landed, the six bags were loaded into an Alfa Romeo owned by Mr Gilchrist, who was later intercepted and arrested by gardaí at Lough Owel, Co Westmeath.
The car was searched, and the six bags were each found to contain 20 blocks, each wrapped in plastic with green tape and a picture of a seahorse on them.
Each of the 120 blocks was found to contain approximately one kilogram of cocaine, totalling 120kg, with a market value of €8m.
Luczak had left the aerodrome in a black Mercedes and was stopped at Collinstown, Co Westmeath, before being taken to Ashbourne Garda Station for interview.
Counsel for the State, Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, said Michal Luczak was "key to the success" of the operation.
He said he would have been a "wildcard" risk to a criminal organisation if he had not known what the four-seater aircraft was carrying.
He was "irreplaceable" and a "valuable asset" in this venture.
