A US national caught along with his mother in possession of over €400,000 of cannabis at Dublin Airport has been jailed for four years.
Shawndell Gaston (31) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing cannabis at Dublin Airport on July 6th, 2025. He has no previous convictions.
Garda Thomas Bourke gave evidence Gaston was on a flight from JFK airport accompanied by his mother and there were 48 packets in the suitcases containing €424,000 worth of cannabis.
His mother, Hellasha Tingman, is to be sentenced next month in relation to the incident.
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Bourke told Carol Doherty BL, prosecuting, Gaston told gardaí he had accommodation booked in Dundalk, Co Louth and said he did not know what was going to be in the suitcases.
The garda agreed with Seán Prendiville BL, defending, that he and his mother “both had financial difficulties”.
Bourke accepted Gaston worked in security and never left the US. He only got a passport three days before he left for Ireland. He further agreed there was an element of naivety involved.
In mitigation, Michael Bowman SC, defending, said his client is from the Bronx and he and his mother had a very strong drug addiction.
Bowman said his client’s mother could not pay the rent and was offered a job “to take it abroad”. Gaston said he knows this was “grotesquely stupid” and accepts what he did was wrong and he is “equally guilty in the eyes of the law”, said Bowman.
Judge Martin Nolan said Gaston’s culpability was at the lowest level, he had no record of conviction and will be serving a sentence in an Irish prison environment.
