Money launderer George Mouchette has been jailed for three years.The 56-year-old drug addict was paid by others to send nearly $500,000 overseas through his own bank account — but after his arrest “steadfastly refused” to divulge the names of his associates, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner observed before sentencing.Crown counsel Larissa Burgess said Mouchette wired a total of $482,118 to accounts in Jamaica, the US and elsewhere.“He was paid, and the funds were used to pay for his drug habit,” she said, asking for three to five years’ imprisonment.Ms Burgess said Mouchette’s conviction history ranged from 1977 to 2009, with drug convictions spanning the entire time.The court heard earlier that Mouchette sent out the money between 2006 and 2010, which eventually aroused the suspicion of Butterfield Bank. Mouchette, of Sandys, was “a vulnerable person with a dependency who could not get a job”, lawyer Ed Bailey told the court.“He was taken advantage of, and the only way he made his money was to get involved in the money laundering.”Mouchette first came to court on March 12, 2012, but didn’t plead guilty until December 13, to two counts of laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking or other criminal activity: $444,414 in the first instance, followed by $37,704.According to a social inquiry report, Mouchette had experience in the hospitality business but was unable to get a job.His lawyer said he had struggled with drug addiction “most of his life”.Arguing for leniency and drug treatment for his client, Mr Bailey told the court that Mouchette’s acts had been “nothing more than changing one currency into another”.“He was not selling drugs. His reason, he says, is that he was driven by his drug dependency.”But Mr Warner replied: “That’s like saying ‘I only handled the stolen goods; I didn’t steal them’.”And the Senior Magistrate was unswayed by the argument that Mouchette should be given some discount for cooperating with police and the courts.“I take umbrage at that,” Mr Warner said. “He must be given credit for his guilty plea, but to say he cooperated is not true.”He added: “This is almost $500,000 we’re talking about here. Over a period of time, and to more than one country.”Mr Warner recommended drug treatment for Mouchette, but also ordered an immediate custodial sentence. Mouchette must serve three years on count one, and two years on count two, with the sentences to run concurrently.