Champagne quaffing drug gang imprisoned for a combined 57 years

Members of a County Lines gang which supplied drugs to dealers and users in Wiltshire have been jailed for a total of almost 57 years.

The gang shipped crack cocaine and heroin to dealers in Swindon and Marlborough for supply to local addicts. Over the course of the conspiracy, the drugs line was contacted by over 800 individual numbers.



The gang’s leader, Linford Goode, ran the operation whilst on licence from prison on a 10 year sentence for County Lines dealing to Norwich. When Police raided his house, he was found in possession of a £21,000 Rolex watch and £20,000 in cash.  He also issued violent threats to those who owed him money, including fellow conspirators. 



Sara Kokot, his accomplice, with whom Goode was having an affair, helped him ship the class A drugs from London to Wiltshire whilst driving luxury cars and boasting of drinking Dom Perignon Champagne. She has a previous conviction for Possession of Ammunition, and was also on licence from prison during the conspiracy.



On Friday 14 June 2019 at Isleworth Crown Court, six gang members were sentenced following an eight week trial where all the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs: 



Linford Goode (32) of Mary Place, Notting Hill, was jailed for 19 years.



Sara Kokot (31) of Shepherd's Bush, London was jailed for eight and a half years.



Scott Cadder (33) of Fairfax Close, Swindon was jailed for seven and a half years.



Sean Smith (30) of Bourne Way, Burbage, was jailed for six years.



Tiffany Smart (27) of Mistletoe Court, Swindon was jailed for eight years.



Dean Black (50) of Orchard Close, Marlborough, was jailed for seven years and eight months.



The total sentence for all six defendants was 56 years and 8 months.



The joint operation between Wiltshire Police and the Metropolitan Police's Trident Gang Crime Command involved the presentation of thousands of pages of telephone records, Automatic Number Plate Recognition material, cell site evidence, and covert surveillance.



Following the sentencing, DI Paul Franklin, from Wiltshire Police’s Dedicated Crime Team, said: “This was a very successful joint operation between Wiltshire Police and The Met along with the support of the Crown Prosecution Service.

“County Lines gangs from big cities are a real problem which is closer to home than some people might think. Wiltshire may seem like a quiet, leafy county but the reality is that some young and vulnerable people living in our communities are being exploited by these gangs who get them to do their dirty work.

“Also, the people purchasing the drugs, who are often vulnerable themselves, regularly commit crime to fund their habit. It's a spiral we want to help them break.

“This is proof that working with other Forces and partners, targeting those gang leaders who push hard drugs into our county, we can make a real difference in disrupting major drugs’ lines which inevitably wreck lives.”