Alloa drug dealer ordered to pay back £42,500 crime cash
An Alloa man who was jailed for drug dealing has been ordered to hand over £42,500 to the government under proceeds of crime legislation.
Leslie Talbot, 35, was ordered to pay the sum after a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Talbot was jailed for almost five years in May 2012 for his role in a gang which supplied drugs in Central Scotland.
Lord Doherty ordered that the sum be paid within six months.
At his trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Talbot admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and cannabis resin between 4 August and 3 October 2010.
The court heard he was arrested by detectives who were working on Operation Kosmik.
Advocate depute Andrew Brown QC, prosecuting, told the court: "This case is the end result of Operation Kosmik, a surveillance-led anti-drugs operation by Central Scotland Police.
"It revealed, both from authorised surveillance and from analysis of mobile telephones, that Mr Talbot was a major player in the distribution of cannabis and cannabis resin - introduced from England - into the central belt of Scotland, involving values of around £10,000 a month."
Talbot also admitted one charge of supplying heroin, but Mr Brown said his client claimed he had thought he was getting involved in another cannabis deal.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, prosecution lawyer Barry Divers told judge Lord Doherty that Crown Office accountants reckoned that Talbot made more than£40,000 from the illegal trade.
Mr Divers asked for the court to order confiscation of £42,500 from Mr Talbot's finances.
Lord Doherty agreed and ordered Talbot, a prisoner of HMP Barlinnie, to pay the amount within six months to the clerk's office at Glasgow Sheriff Court.