Defending Singh, Talbir Singh KC said he came to the UK aged 18 as an Italian national after his family moved from India to Italy.
The court heard he worked legally in the UK and met co-conspirators while working in construction, earning £4,000 to £4,500 a month.
The barrister said it seemed “incongruous” Singh allowed himself to enter a conspiracy when he had no real financial need, and there was evidence he was “a subordinate, not the architect of a conspiracy”.
Following sentencing, Peter Cockrill, district crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service South East, said Singh was an Indian national who played a key role, “putting individuals at serious risk”.
Cockrill said the plot was exposed when 11 Indian nationals were found hiding in the trailer of a lorry stopped at Dover in December 2024.
He said that and another incident led officers to Singh and his address in Wolverhampton.
The CPS will now apply for a confiscation order, Cockrill said.
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