Benjamin White, 27, of Barry, advertised his services on Telegram and booked flights using false details and documents to help fly other Iranian nationals from France and Spain into London.
Prosecutor Byron Broadstock said White, formerly Parham Moradzadeh Sarabi before changing his name, arrived in the UK via a small boat and was granted leave to remain until November next year on family grounds.
Between September 2023 and July 2024, White made 12 flight bookings to try and help eight individuals illegally enter the UK.
White booked and paid for the flights using different email addresses and phone numbers, and in each case he used false documents and details for the passengers.
Five of the passengers successfully entered the UK. Upon arrival, they notified the Home Office of their real identities and applied for asylum.
The Home Office investigates cases where false details are used to enter the UK.
Each of these cases led back to White, in part due to the email addresses used and the payment methods for the flights – as White used his own bank account and Apple Pay to pay for some of the flights.
White was arrested on December 9 last year.
Police found false documents – two international driving licences – when they searched his home. White told officers he had “found” them and kept them as he “liked to collect things”.
These documents hadn’t been used in booking any of the flights, the court heard.
Officers found White had been taking requests via the Telegram app, where he had also been advertising his services. He claimed he received $50 for each flight booked.
Mr Broadstock said it was not known how much the defendant made from his offending, as there was no evidence of $50 payments into White’s bank accounts and he was paid in cryptocurrency.
White, of Crwys Lane in Barry, pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration to the UK.
Nigel Fryer, in mitigation, said the defendant accepted he had knowingly bought flights for individuals using false details, and that he had no previous convictions in this country.
“There’s a relative sophistication to this, but that is balanced with a relatively low number of individuals who entered the UK,” he said.
It was also acknowledged that the offences didn’t involve the use of dangerous means to help people into the country illegally, as they involved flights rather than small boat crossings.
“You were part of a criminal enterprise which involved arranging air travel to the UK for Iranian nationals,” Judge Paul Hobson said.
“You used a number of different email addresses and telephone numbers to make 12 such bookings.
“You were not doing this for family members or friends of yours. You were doing it for commercial enterprise.
“The assertion you were doing this for as little as $50 is an assertion I reject.”
Judge Hobson jailed White for three years and nine months.
