A three-man "hit for hire team" have received sentences totalling 36.5 years at the Special Criminal Court for planning to kill a member of the Hutch family.
They were intercepted by gardai just 250 metres from their target's home in Dublin's north inner city.
The non-jury court has heard that audio surveillance of the team picked up references to “the cartel” and “money all over the world”.
Gary Thompson, 34, and his brother Glen Thompson, 24, were each jailed for 12 years and six months.
A third man, Afghan war veteran Robert Browne, 35, was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison.
These sentences were backdated to March 10, 2018, when the three men went into custody.
Sentencing the defendants today, presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt said "numerous loaded, highly dangerous and effective weapons" had been seized by gardai and "no restraint or reluctance" had been shown on the part of the accused.
"These offences arose out of criminality of a very serious nature," he outlined.
Gary Thompson, with an address at Plunkett Green in Finglas, Dublin 11, his brother Glen Thompson, of Plunkett Drive, also in Finglas, and Robert Browne, of Phibsboro Road in Phibsboro, Dublin 7 previously admitted to unlawful possession of four firearms with intent to endanger life at Belmont Hall Apartments, Gardiner Street, Dublin 1 on March 10, 2018.
The four firearms included a 9mm Rak sub-machine gun, a .38 Special Calibre Rossi Make Revolver, a 9mm Beretta 92 semi-automatic pistol and a 9mm Makarov semi-automatic pistol.
The maximum sentence for such an offence is life in prison and the minimum sentence is ten years.
The three men gave little reaction before they were led away by prison officers.
At a sentence hearing on July 15, Detective Superintendent David Gallagher from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said the investigation was an intelligence-led operation which occurred between early February and March 10, 2018.
It arose from confidential information received concerning individuals within an organised crime gang involved in a serious feud, targeting rivals in another group “for assassination”, he said.
As a result of CCTV and audio recordings, it became apparent to investigators that there was a plan to murder Patrick "Patsy” Hutch at his address on Champion’s Avenue in Dublin 1.
