A gangster’s girlfriend who recruited her mom, dad and brother was so “fearless” with money she splurged thousands on designer clothes and surgery.
Jodie Bowie, 32, met drug dealer Jonathan Walsh on Facebook while he was serving 14 years for armed robbery and immediately reaped the rewards of his racket.
The pair raked in the cash through their “sophisticated” amphetamine and cannabis trafficking operation across the East Midlands.
Bowie splashed on fast cars, expensive jewellery, designer clobber and cosmetic surgery, Manchester Evening News reports.
And she was so desperate to maintain her lavish lifestyle, she enlisted her immediate relatives to help move the drug money when one of Walsh’s couriers, Bowie’s uncle Joseph Grey, was arrested.
But the family was yesterday sentenced for their part in the network.
Manchester Crown Court heard Jodie Bowie was “fearless when it came to spending money.”
During a raid on her home, police found designer clothes worth more than $135,513 and a further $13,551 in cash.
Clothing valued at $36,586 and an additional $7,453 stash was discovered during another visit, while phone messages showed her booking in cosmetic surgery costing $6,775.
Describing the weeks after Walsh and Bowie moved in together, prosecutor Tom Challinor said: “Over a very short period of time, Walsh began to accrue possessions of a lavish lifestyle, including Rolex watches, designer clothing, and driving expensive cars at $1,761 a month.
“They decked out their house in lavish decor which indicated that sort of lifestyle.
“Jodie Bowie worked at the time but was not on the sort of income which could have supported that lifestyle.
“When Grey was arrested and his (Walsh) operation was affected, she knew she had to do something about it – and that something was to recruit her family, namely her mother, brother and dad who assisted in the operation.
“When it came to spending money, she was fearless.”
Following Grey’s arrest, Bowie tasked her mum Janice, dad David and brother Lee with Walsh’s “dirty work” to ferry cash across the region — and gave them clear instructions to delete their messages after each drop.
The year-long line ran class B drugs through the northwest of England and Nottinghamshire from October 2018 to October 2019.
It made the gang a tidy $426,866 profit from cannabis and £500 per kilo of amphetamine.
But ringleader Walsh, 33, was eventually caught with 15kg of cannabis worth £150,000 and the operation was uncovered.
Family business
Between them, the gang landed almost 50 years behind bars.
Walsh, of Failsworth, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and money laundering and was later found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm, conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to possess an explosive device and was jailed for 15 years.
Jodie, also of Failsworth, who worked as an elderly carer, landed a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years, and a three-month curfew.
She must also carry out 140 hours of unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity days after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class B cannabis and money laundering.
Between them, David, 52, and Janice Bowie, 53, were handed 22 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, as well as unpaid work and costs.
Lee Bowie, 34, will be sentenced at a later date.
Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said: “Jodie Bowie, you recruited family members as couriers and sent them messages in regards to meeting places and telling them they should delete messages.
“You stood to gain financially from this. I accept you did have personal income, but that income did not enable you to have the kind of lifestyle that you apparently did.”
This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.
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