A gangster’s girlfriend who recruited her mother, father, and brother was so “fearless” with money that she spent thousands of dollars on luxury clothes and surgeries.
Jodie Bowie, 32, met drug dealer Jonathan Walsh on Facebook when he was serving a 14-year sentence for armed robbery and reaped the benefits of his racket right away.
The two made money by running a “sophisticated” amphetamine and cannabis trafficking business in the East Midlands.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Bowie spent his money on fast automobiles, extravagant jewellery, fashionable clothing, and cosmetic surgery.
When one of Walsh’s couriers, Bowie’s uncle Joseph Grey, was caught, she solicited the services of her personal relatives to help transfer the drug money.
However, the family was convicted yesterday for their involvement in the network.
Jodie Bowie was described as “fearless when it came to spending money” at Manchester Crown Court.
During a raid on her residence, officers discovered designer garments worth more than $135,513 as well as an additional $13,551 in cash.
During another visit, she was caught with clothing worth $36,586 and an additional $7,453 stockpile, while phone texts revealed a booking for $6,775 in cosmetic surgery.
“Over a very short amount of time, Walsh began to accumulate goods of a luxury lifestyle, including Rolex watches, designer apparel, and driving costly cars at $1,761 a month,” prosecutor Tom Challinor said of the weeks after Walsh and Bowie moved in together.
“They dressed out their home with opulent furnishings that reflected their lifestyle.”
“Jodie Bowie worked at the time, but her salary was insufficient to sustain that lifestyle.”
“When Grey was imprisoned and his (Walsh’s) scheme was jeopardised, she felt she had to act – and that action was to recruit her family, including her mother, brother, and father, who cooperated in the operation.”
“She was fearless when it came to spending money.”
Following Grey’s arrest, Bowie tasked her mother Janice, father David, and brother Lee with Walsh’s “dirty work” of transporting cash across the region — and instructed them to delete their communications after each drop.
From October 2018 to October 2019, the year-long route transported class B pharmaceuticals through the northwest of England and Nottinghamshire.
The group profited $426,866 from cannabis and £500 per kilo of amphetamine.
However, ringleader Walsh, 33, was apprehended with 15kg of cannabis worth £150,000, and the scheme was exposed.
Family business
The group was sentenced to nearly 50 years in prison.
Walsh, of Failsworth, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and money laundering, and was later found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm, ammunition, and an explosive device, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jodie, also of Failsworth, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years, and a three-month curfew.
After pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class B cannabis and money laundering, she must also do 140 hours of unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity days.
David, 52, and Janice Bowie, 53, were sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, as well as unpaid labour and fees.
Lee Bowie, 34, is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.
“Jodie Bowie, you recruited family members as couriers and sent them texts regarding meeting sites and advising them they should delete messages,” said Judge Elizabeth Nicholls.
“This had the potential to benefit you financially. I accept that you had personal money, but that income did not allow you to live the lifestyle that you appear to have.”
