A former Scottish Premiership star has been jailed after admitting his role in a £600,000 drugs plot.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested after two suitcases were seized at Stansted Airport.
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60kg of cannabis was found in the cases that had arrived from Thailand.
Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, was playing for Morton at the time of his arrest in September last year.
He was subsequently sacked by the Championship club.
Last month, he pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1, 2024 and September 2, 2024.
He was remanded in custody and was sentenced today.
Emmanuel-Thomas has been jailed for four years.
Judge Alexander Mills told the striker: “It is through your own actions you will no longer be known as a professional footballer.”
“You will be known as a criminal. A professional footballer who threw it all away.”
London-born Emmanuel-Thomas came through the academy system at Arsenal.
He made it all the way to the first team and appeared in the Premier League.
After a series of loan spells, Emmanuel-Thomas enjoyed spells with Ipswich, Bristol City and QPR.
He had a spell abroad before joining Livingston in 2020.
Emmanuel-Thomas, nicknamed JET, impressed and earned a move to Aberdeen.
However, he couldn’t replicate his success at Pittodrie and left after less than a year.
He failed to score a league goal for the Dons.
Emmanuel-Thomas returned to Scotland on a short-term deal in July 2024 before being sacked in mid-September after being charged over his role in the drugs plot.
The court heard that the drugs were brought into the UK by the striker’s girlfriend, Yasmin Piotrowski.
She and Rosie Rowland had flown business class to Stansted on September 2.
Emmanuel-Thomas was linked to the discovery by WhatsApp messages, voice notes and pictures.
The court was told it was “apparent” he had recruited the women, who were cleared after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case.
Emmanuel-Thomas had offered the women £2,500 plus a free holiday to Thailand.
After Piotrowska was stopped by border officials, Emmanuel-Thomas messaged Rowland to tell her to “delete everything from our chat if you can”.
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The footballer then travelled to East London on September 5 and replaced his mobile phone.
He was dismissed by Morton a couple of weeks later when the situation came to light.
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