Twisted tales of Qld’s cocaine kings and queens

These are some of the people who have faced court in 2023 for cocaine-related charges.

Affair leads to drug deal lifestyle

A Sunshine Coast nightclub owner, whose life “fell apart” when he found out his father had been having an affair with his wife, was in April jailed for drug trafficking.

Marcus Les Wright, 41, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court to one count each of trafficking dangerous drugs, possessing a phone used in a crime, and fraud.

He is a co-owner of The Rolling Rock nightclub in Noosa.

The court heard the nightclub’s financial troubles were part of the reason why Wright turned to trafficking and selling drugs.

Crown prosecutor James Bishop said Wright trafficked cocaine for 13 months, between April 2020 and May 2021, and purchased the drugs from a Victorian supplier.

Mr Bishop said Wright paid the supplier $99,600 in total – $45,000 paid off an old debt, and $54,600 bought him 8.6 ounces of cocaine, which had a resale value of $72,000-$120,000.

Customers would come to The Rolling Rock nightclub to collect “the bags”.

In sentencing, Judge Lincoln Crowley described the trafficking as “serious”.

He also took into account Wright’s mental health issues, and accepted Wright had shown genuine remorse and his genuine prospects of rehabilitation.

Wright was sentenced to five years in prison for drug trafficking, and 15 months concurrently for the fraud offence. He was convicted and not further punished for the other offence.

Wright’s five-year prison sentence will be suspended and he will be released once he has spent 15 months behind bars.

This comes with the condition that he does not commit another offence punishable by jail time for the five years after he is released.

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Dealer’s steps to rehabilitate pays

A former MMA fighter who trafficked drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy in Toowoomba over a 10-month period was in March sentenced to four years in jail, though he won’t serve one day behind bars.

Tyson Julian Myles, 26, had no criminal history when he embarked on his trafficking business from late-2019 to ­October 2020, Toowoomba Supreme Court was told.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said though police intercepts and searches of the then 23-year-old’s phone showed he had only four customers because Myles had used the Snapchat app to avoid detection when dealing with drug users, there could have been more customers.

He was first detected after being pulled over by police in the early hours of August 30, 2020, Ms Friedewald said.

A search of his jacket found $250, a diazepam tablet, eight clip-seal bags containing a total 0.737g of pure cocaine and flick knife found in his car.

When taken to the hospital, a blood test showed he had cocaine and diazepam in his system, she said.

A police search of his home on September 26, 2020, found a small amount of cannabis and diazepam and a grinder used for drugs, which he said were all his, telling police he used diazepam to calm him after taking cocaine, she said.

On October 23, 2020, police again searched Myles’ home and seized his phone on which was found drug deal messages, but police also found a crawl space under the house that contained two safes where officers discovered 14g of substance, in which there was 6.224g pure cocaine, 39g of MDA, 0.047g of MDMA (ecstasy), 30g of cannabis, $9000 cash and a box of 50 .22 calibre bullets, Ms Friedewald said.

Myles was again found with nine clip-seal bags containing 1g of cocaine each, 31 MDA tablets when spoken to outside a CBD nightclub on December 13, 2020, and when strip searched at the watch-house, another bag containing 1.824g of pure cocaine and ecstasy tablets were found.

Myles pleaded guilty to trafficking, four counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two of possessing dangerous drugs above the 2g schedule and to possessing proceeds of drug sales, possessing a weapon and drug utensils and ammunition.

His barrister Nathan Edridge told the court his client had since taken considerable steps to rehabilitate.

Myles at that time had no criminal history and had been a successful MMA fighter, who won a Queensland bantamweight title, he said.

Justice Peter Applegarth sentenced Myles to four years in jail, but ordered the whole term be suspended for four years, placed him on three years probation and ordered he do 120 hours community service.

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Barber nabbed on being spared jail

A coke-dealing man walked out of court a relatively free man only to be bundled up and taken away by immigration officials.

Barber Giovanni Genuario, 28, was in February handed an 18-month wholly suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to 10 counts of supplying cocaine and two counts of possession.

But as the Italian national left the court with his girlfriend, Australian Border Force swooped on Genuario who has been living as an ­illegal alien since his visa expired in November 2021.

He was initially charged as part of Operation Sierra Gypsy in December 2020.

Genuario, who worked as a barber at a salon, supplied cocaine to an undercover officer five times and was involved in preparing supply of coke another five times from August to December 2020, the court was told.

In that time he supplied 4.87g of pure cocaine for $4400. He also arranged for 4.92g of pure cocaine to an undercover cop for $5000, the court heard.

Lawyer Angus Edwards said his client hoped to stay in Australia and had spent $10,000 trying to get a new visa.

Judge Vicki Loury said Genuario had been using cocaine and fell in with the wrong crowd.

He was taken into custody by Australian Border Force.

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Gold Coast nurse busted dealing cocaine

A Gold Coast nurse and mother of three’s spiral from law-abiding citizen to cocaine dealer was in March aired in court.

Police raided Sally Louise MacNeill’s Robina home on December 8, 2021.

Southport District Court was told officers found small amounts of cocaine, 2g of marijuana, a Valium tablet and a set of scales stashed in MacNeill’s kitchen and bedroom.

Crown prosecutor Kelli Lemass said a further search of the 41-year-old’s phone revealed she had supplied or arranged to sell cocaine three times in the months leading up to the raid.

It was heard MacNeill sold 3g for $1050, 7g for an unknown amount, and offered to supply another 0.5g through an encrypted messaging app.

The court was told the nurse of 15 years and educator had no criminal history and had not reoffended since being charged.

Defence barrister Carmen De Marco said MacNeill was introduced to cocaine by an abusive partner, who she met after leaving a previous unsafe relationship.

The qualified hairdresser was seeking treatment for ongoing mental health concerns and had since stopped using substances, the court was told.

Judge David Kent said MacNeill had taken positive steps towards rehabilitation, helping to balance the seriousness of dealing “significant street-level amounts” of cocaine.

MacNeill pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying dangerous drugs, two each of possessing dangerous drugs and possessing items used in the commission of a crime, and one of possessing unauthorised medicines.

She was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, wholly suspended for two years. She was also placed on probation for 12 months.

Convictions were recorded for only two supply offences.

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‘Busy’ dealer sentenced to five years’ jail

A “busy” Townsville drug trafficker sold drugs conservatively valued at $50,000 in just four months, the Supreme Court was told in January.

Adam Gillespie, 36, pleaded guilty to a range of more than 20 largely drug-related charges after he became involved in trafficking cannabis, methamphetamine, plus small amounts of MDMA and cocaine, in 2021.

The court heard the father of four had a late introduction to methamphetamine which led to the dealing and other related offences.

Prosecutor Tom Hancock told the court that Gillespie had been the subject of police raids in 2021 and evidence was obtained from mobile phones that he was buying cannabis from two separate suppliers.

“From April to September 2021 he supplied cannabis in wholesale quantities and methamphetamine in intermediate amounts,” he said.

Mr Hancock said evidence from the seized mobile phones showed that Gillespie was selling two types of cannabis, that he called ‘standard’ and ‘primo’, for cash and credit, much of it online through sites like Facebook.

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“After a police raid on June 11, 2021, they discovered a tick sheet on a phone which showed he had sold $11,000 worth of drugs between June 5 and 10,” he said.

He said a tick sheet found on a second phone seized by police revealed that 16 customers had been supplied drugs on credit worth $45,000.

Mr Hancock said police raids also uncovered small amounts of cocaine, LSD, scales and other drug paraphernalia.

He said on another occasion police intercepted a car at Deeragun and discovered Gillespie was the driver and two knives were located in the centre console that Gillespie claimed at the time were used for hunting.

He said, despite assisting police when they raided his property on another occasion, Gillespie continued to deal in drugs, even after being charged and released on bail.

Justice David North described Gillespie’s trafficking as “a fairly intensive, busy commercial enterprise”.

The court heard that Gillespie had already served 11 months on remand and Justice North said he took that into account when he sentenced Gillespie to five years’ jail, to be suspended after 15 months.

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Cop’s spiral into selling coke after sex harassment

A “poster girl” for Queensland Police who graduated with a distinction and worked in some of the state’s most difficult areas ended up disillusioned, selling cocaine and party drugs after being subjected to sexual harassment and misogyny, a court heard.

Former constable Rachelle Elise Perry, 27, in June pleaded guilty to 12 counts of supplying drugs, two counts of possessing drugs, three counts of permitting use of place and once count each of stealing as a public service employee, possessing anything used in the commission of supplying drugs, computer hacking and possessing a handgun.

Brisbane’s District Court heard Perry was a serving officer when a police investigation into drug trafficking in Brisbane identified her as a customer of a person of interest.

Crown prosecutor Chontelle Farnsworth said a probe into Perry revealed she and her then boyfriend were involved in the supply of drugs from February to April 2021.

Ms Farnsworth said Perry aided her partner with the supply of $700 worth of cocaine and supplied cocaine on six occasions including one sale that involved cocaine to the value of $1700. She supplied MDMA, also known as ecstasy, on three occasions.

Perry’s ex-partner pleaded guilty to six counts of supply, two counts of permitting use of place and one count of possess anything used in the commission of supplying a dangerous drug.

He was sentenced to 18 months jail with immediate parole.

Perry also accessed the police database to check a number for an associate to see if they were being stalked which constituted the computer hacking charge.

Barrister Saul Holt, SC, said at the time of the offending his client was in a downward spiral.

After a difficult upbringing along with mental health and physical difficulties Perry was accepted into the police academy in Townsville aged 19.

She graduated with a distinction and became “somewhat of a poster girl” used to promote female recruitment in the force.

She was posted to Cairns before choosing a placement to the remote Aurukun region in Far North Queensland.

Judge Deborah Richards, who headed the domestic violence inquiry into Queensland Police revealing a disturbing culture of sexism and misogyny within the ranks, said Perry’s fear of “predatory behaviour” was well founded.

When Perry returned to Brisbane she formed a new relationship with her co-accused who, unbeknown to her at the time, was a drug user, the court heard.

Before this she had no criminal history.

Mr Holt said this was a turning point which saw Perry do “everything in her power to turn her life around”.

Perry has since been diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD.

She said jail was appropriate given the seriousness of the offences but there would be no utility in putting Perry in actual custody.

Perry was sentenced to 2.5 years and granted immediate parole.

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Crypto dealer cops nine years’ jail

A Cairns businessman who sold drugs on a wholesale basis using cryptocurrency accounts, the dark web and encrypted email for transactions was in March sentenced to nine years jail.

Paul Andrew Robinson pleaded guilty to 23 charges including two counts of trafficking drugs.

Defence barrister Rachelle Logan said Robinson was not trafficking drugs for the entire period the crown claimed and much of the transactions were bitcoin trading.

Giving evidence, Robinson, 56, said he was a successful Melbourne real estate agent who relocated to Cairns, establishing a cleaning business which had large contracts with hotels and resorts.

He said deposits during the time the prosecution alleged he was trafficking – from July 2019 until August 2021 – were from his cryptocurrency trading.

While there was about $1m in transactions, Robinson argued only $250,000 to $300,000 was drug related.

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He said a man gave him $350,000 for Bitcoin and he buried the money because he did not trust banks.

The drug operation involving acquiring and wholesaling cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and cannabis was uncovered when police raided the home of Paul Shane Young, 54, who separately entered a guilty plea for drug trafficking, and found encrypted emails.

Prosecutor Christian Peters said Robinson claimed he received $350,000 for 700,000 bitcoin from a man named Richard de Lacy in 2018 and that he buried the money on Admiralty Island, unearthing it periodically for crypto trading.

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said she found Robinson’s evidence implausible and he was a habitually dishonest person.

Robinson, who has been in custody since August 21, 2021, was sentenced to nine and a half years imprisonment with no recommendation for parole.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of trafficking in dangerous drugs, nine charges of possessing dangerous drugs, supplying dangerous drugs, and two charges of possessing anything used in the commission of a crime.

Robinson was indicted and pleaded guilty to nine charges including contravening order about information necessary to access information electronically, two charges of possess utensils or pipes that had been used, stealing, receiving tainted property, fraud, unlawful possession of weapons, possessing/acquiring restricted items, and fail to properly dispose of needle and syringe.

Young was sentenced to eight and a half years, with parole eligibility from September 2025.

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Mum’s long list of customers

A Townsville mum had more than 110 customers for her drug supply business that police became aware of, the Supreme Court heard in June.

Caidee Jade Ogston-Hughes, 27, pleaded guilty to seven counts of drug related offences including the supply and trafficking of dangerous drugs.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Butler told the court that Ogston-Hughes had amassed her customers between August 12, 2021 and April 13, 2022 in and around Townsville.

She said the main drugs she supplied were cannabis and methamphetamine, but there were occasions she also sold MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine.

The drug dealing enterprise was uncovered after police raided Ogston- Hughes’ home on an unrelated matter, seized her phone and uncovered a small quantity of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Ms Butler said information gleaned from the phone showed a ‘snapshot of her drug business’.

She said it showed that $34,000 had been deposited into her bank account during her seven months of operation, involving 274 bank transactions.

Her barrister Ross Malcomson said Ogston-Hughes had been a mother of three children but lost one though tragic circumstances.

He said she was raised in a difficult situation with exposure to physical abuse and drugs at an early age.

Mr Malcomson said she was under no misapprehension that she must be free of drugs for the rest of her life.

He said he believed she was on the path to rehabilitation and had taken every course available to her during her 426 days in pre-sentence custody.

Justice David North sentenced her to three-and-a-half years in prison, suspended for four years, and ordered she serve two years’ probation.

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