A “STUPID” criminal laundered cash for a gang selling illegal erectile dysfunction pills.

Lee Tomlinson was heavily in debt when he agreed to let his personal bank accounts be used in Worthing.

An online website run by John and Adam Freeman sold Kamagra, which is an unlicensed alternative to Viagra.

Tomlinson was promised £100 per transaction if he agreed to allow money to be paid into his account.

But the 35-year-old’s error was using his own passport and name to withdraw payments, which made him easy to trace by investigators.

Over a two-year period he harboured more than £440,000 for the Freemans, whose real identity remains unknown.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) investigation showed the websites advertising Kamagra were registered as far away as Panama City, Moscow, and Sofia in Bulgaria.

At Hove Crown Court on Wednesday, Tomlinson admitted acquiring, transferring and possessing criminal property and was jailed for two years and ten months.

Anthony Hucklesby, prosecuting, said the investigation traced payments back to 2012 and said Tomlinson got involved in June 2014.

He said: “The defendant was the one who received the proceeds whether directly or indirectly from the websites and shouldered the risks.

“Money was withdrawn using his identification documents, in that way he facilitated the quiet enjoyment of the benefits for the Freemans.”

Tomlinson, of Cross Street, Worthing, has 11 previous convictions for 14 offences. He was subject to a suspended sentence and community order at the time.

He had previously threatened his ex with a knife during an affray, Mr Hucklesby revealed.

Jeffrey Lamb, defending, said Tomlinson had fully admitted his role in the operation and was not one of the key players. He said his client had waited for two years for the case to reach court, and had turned his life around in that time.

Mr Lamb said: “There is an element of him being used by those further up the chain. His naivete and one might say stupidity was being used by more serious criminals.

“He was always acting under instructions. He used his own passport for identification. It is hardly the actions of a sophisticated criminal.

“Since then he has gone from being a feckless, debt-ridden drug user to what he is now, an upstanding member of society.”

Judge Christine Henson QC said Tomlinson’s crimes passed the custody threshold, and could not be suspended because they were committed over a sustained period.