A Tuam man who sought the help of a crime boss to collect his debts is appealing the severity of his sentence for money-laundering.
27 year old Brian Cummins, of Ballygaddy Road, pleaded guilty on the date his trial was due to get underway.
Last July, Brian Cummins was sentenced to seven years in prison at Galway Circuit Court, with the final two years suspended.
The sentencing court heard that during an investigation into organised crime, Gardaí arrested a man named Barry Young in December 2019.
His phone was seized and analysed - and it revealed Young as the leader of a Sligo crime gang consisting of at least 20 members.
The mobile phone was found to contain a contact known as "Tuam" and further enquiries revealed that "Tuam" was Brian Cummins.
Whatsapp messages between them revealed information on debts owed to Cummins, an attack on a home in Tuam, and on €1,000 transferred to another individual.
Gardaí believed the transfer was linked to the attack on the home.
Brian Cummins legal team now argues his headline sentence of 7 years is disproportional - pointing out lesser sentences have been handed down in cases involving a lot more money.
They accept this case is not just about the money - but claim the facts show he was not central to the operation of the gang and was at a distance from it.
At the Court of Appeal, Ms Justice Tara Burns said the court would reserve judgement and deliver its decision on July 14th.
