Male model arrested in Leeds turned to lucrative cocaine dealing when work 'dried up'

Marcus Adigun looked to have a bright future, having gained a university degree, was working towards becoming a personal trainer and advertised himself as a part-time model and actor, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The 29-year-old had even showed promise of becoming a professional football player until an injury cut his career short, and was a two-time boxing champion at his university.

But his secret underworld dealings unravelled when he was approached by police in Leeds in May 2021. Prosecutor Edward Steele told the court this week that he was seen “behaving erratically” while stood next to his car in the city.

When they carried out a search, they found bags of white powder on him and in the car, along with £458 cash. He also had two mobile phones on which the officers found messages related to drug dealing. They then searched his home and found more drugs divided into dozen of snap bags, scales and more than £2,400 in cash.

Adgiun, of Scotforth Close, Manchester, later admitted two counts of dealing in cocaine, one of dealing ketamine and one of dealing cannabis. He also admitted offering to supply a psychoactive substance. He has two previous convictions, including one for possession of cannabis in 2019.

Mitigating, Damian Zelazowski said: “It’s not a particularly complex or a difficult case. This is relatively low level. There are messages on his phone related to supply, but this is not a case of sending flare messages (widespread advertising messages) to known drug users.

"It’s not a large commercial set up, it’s him working alone to a relative sphere of users. It’s clearly an escalation of offending.”

Mr Zelazowski said that Adigun was a hard worker and became a fitness instructor. He is also close to completing his qualifications to become a personal trainer. In addition, he advertises himself as a model and actor on various talent websites.

But Mr Zelazowski said that during the pandemic his work dried up and so turned to selling drugs. He said: “He made an incredibly poor decision in my submission, out of character to move into this area to supply drugs.

"He turned to this when his other jobs and revenue flows fell apart. He has been knocked down time and again but keeps picking himself up and is now trying to make a legitimate living. He is fully remorseful and is trying to move away from that offending behaviour.”

The presiding judge, Recorder Thomas Moran acknowledged that Adigun had not simply “sat and felt sorry for himself” and since his arrest had tried to move on with his life.

But he added: “You are effectively a street dealer of Class A drugs. You made the decision, with all the risks, to become a drug dealer.”

He gave him credit for his early guilty pleas, and took his progress into account, and jailed him for 28 months.