A prolific County Lines drug dealer who pretended to fundraise from his dealing has been jailed. Jay Carmen, 38, from Swallows Close, Bromsgrove, was sentenced to eight years in prison on April 30 after being found guilty of multiple offences.
West Mercia Police discovered a series of messages referring to a county line operating under two names – “Levi” and “Cuzzy” – following an arrest for suspected supply of Class A drugs in 2024. An extensive bank of conversations on the phone showed the history of the line's number operating for the sale of drugs, including when it was sold to Carmen.
The conversations also allowed detectives to link the line to Stephen Kincaid, 40, of Broadleaf Drive, Warwick, and Charlotte Simmons, 35, of Broad Street, Bromsgrove.
Carmen also operated under the alias “Noah Carmen”, under which name he committed acts of fraud and burglary against a woman in Leamington Spa, stealing jewellery and access to her bank account. In late June 2022, Carmen posted an advert on NextDoor offering manual jobs in return for a place to stay. The victim took him up on the offer and asked him to paint her kitchen. Carmen left before the kitchen was completed, but the victim then noticed a series of strange transactions in her account, with £728 successfully withdrawn. There were attempts to remove £19,999, police said. She also discovered that £1,000 worth of jewellery had been taken from her home.
In November 2024, Carmen informed his customers through the Cuzzy Line that he was raising money for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, with a portion of money from drug sales going towards charity. Although a fundraising page was established under the name “Noah Carmen”, no money was ever donated.
Carmen and Simmons were arrested in June last year when their home on Swallows Close was searched under warrant, revealing bags of cocaine, a notebook with notes referring to drug dealing, and a note reading “Line for you” sitting next to cocaine remnants. Kincaid was also arrested, and a search of his property found a “tick list” – a record of owed money for drugs – a linked mobile phone, and a zombie knife.
Carmen was later found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, concealing, disguising, converting, transferring, and/or removing criminal property, two counts of fraud by false representation, and burglary of a dwelling and theft. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on April 30.
Simmons was found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and concealing, disguising, converting, transferring, and/or removing criminal property. She has been jailed for two years. Kincaid was found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possessing an offensive weapon in a private place. He was jailed for three years and two months.
Speaking after the case, investigating officer DC Dubad said: “Carmen took possession of an established county line and, with the assistance of Kincaid and Simmons, continued to feed cocaine into Warwickshire with no consideration to the people whose lives he was ruining. Both those who he was selling to, and those victimised by a long and violent international production route. Carmen has also directly defrauded and stolen from a woman who trusted him enough to bring him into her home. Warwickshire will not miss Carmen while he is away, nor will it miss Kincaid or Simmons.”
