A drug dealer has been ordered to pay back almost £11,000 of his illegally amassed cash following a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing.
Jonathan Bye, 44, was jailed for 30 months in May after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of class B drugs.
Bye, of Lune Street, Lancaster, was arrested after a member of the public spotted him acting suspiciously in the car park of McDonalds at Fleetwood’s Fleetport shopping centre in October 2010.
When officers attended and carried out a stop check they discovered Bye had 1kg of amphetamine, with a street value of around £12,000, in his possession.
At a recent POCA hearing at Preston Crown Court, the judge deemed that the benefit of Bye’s criminality was £32,306, which represented the value of the seized drugs, along with cash paid into his bank account and money spent on his own drug habit.
His available assets were set at £10,963.35 and a confiscation order was made for this amount.
Anna Willetts, financial investigator for Lancashire Constabulary, said: “Bye was caught with a significant amount of drugs on him and it was clear he was making a large profit from his illegal activities.
“It is not right that criminals should live beyond their means, essentially at the cost of law abiding residents who also suffer the extra misery created by drugs being brought into their local community.
“If it becomes apparent that Bye has more available assets in the future then these can also be taken from him until the full benefit of his criminality is confiscated by the courts.”
She added: “Money confiscated through POCA is then distributed between various crime fighting agencies and is put towards projects that make our neighbourhoods safer places.”
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