Director of Public Prosecutions v Nguyen
[2022] VCC 1900
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT Melbourne
CRIMINAL DIVISION
CR-21-00328
| THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| TONY NGUYEN |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE CAHILL | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 21 October 2022 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 15 November 2022 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Nguyen | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2022] VCC 1900 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Prohibited person possess firearm – trafficking drugs of dependence – dealing with proceeds of crime
Catchwords: Guilty plea – high utilitarian value – firearms and cash “stock in trade” of significant drug trafficking – remorse – disadvantage and chronic PTSD – totality – contingent prospects of rehabilitation
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic); Firearms Act 1996 (Vic)
Cases Cited:Worboyes v R [2021] VSCA 169; Fawaz Sultan [2022] VSCA 205; Bugmy (2013) 249 CLR 571; Nathan Akoka [2017] VSCA 214; Renzella [1997] 2 VR 88; DPP v Phuoc Nguyen [2018] VCC 2320; R v Postiglione (1997) 145 ALR 408; Berichon v R; Houssein v R (2013) 40 VR 490; Mario Accarito [2019] VSCA 264; Travis Kelly [2020] VSCA 171.
Sentence:Total effective sentence of 4 years and 10 months’ imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 3 years
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr J. O'Toole | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr L. Barker | Burn City Legal |
HIS HONOUR:
1Tony Nguyen, you have pleaded guilty to:
(a) one charge of negligently dealing with proceeds of crime;
(b) two charges of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm;
(c) two charges of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime;
(d) two charges of trafficking in a drug of dependence; and
(e) three charges of possession of a drug of dependence.
2You also have pleaded guilty to the related summary offence of possess cartridge ammunition without a licence.
Circumstances of Offending
3The circumstances are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening.[1] The facts are agreed.
[1] Exhibit A.
4On 25 March 2020, police arrested you in the carpark of a Box Hill apartment building where you live. They had a warrant to search your premises.
Charge 1 – Negligently dealing with proceeds of crime
5Charge 1, negligently dealing with proceeds of crime, is a rolled up charge of two instances of dealing with property.
6A Mercedes Benz was found in the carpark. On 28 August 2019, you paid $75,000 in cash to purchase the car and arranged to register it in the name of an associate. Between 22 November 2019 and the day of your arrest you had been using the car (Charge 1 – Negligently dealing with proceeds of crime).
7In the bathroom, inside your apartment, police found an Omega Seamaster watch valued at $9900 (Charge 1 – Negligently dealing with proceeds of crime).
8By your guilty plea you admit you dealt with both the car and the watch which were proceeds of crime and you were negligent as to whether they were.
Charge 2 – Prohibited person in possession of a firearm
Summary Offence 5 – Possess Cartridge ammunition without a licence
9In a Nike backpack (“the backpack”), kept in your storage cage, they found a loaded Browning semi-automatic pistol. They also found a box containing 19 rounds of .380 calibre ammunition.
10By your guilty plea you admit you possessed the loaded pistol and the ammunition.
Charge 3 – Knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime
11In your bedroom, police found $92,540 in cash in a safe and $2,550 in cash in a pair of your tracksuit pants.
12By your guilty plea you admit you dealt with the cash, $95,090 in total, which was proceeds of crime and you knew it.
Charge 4 – Prohibited person in possession of a firearm
13Police also had a warrant to search your then girlfriend's apartment a Burwood.
14There were two safes in a bedroom cupboard.
15In one of them, there was a loaded silver revolver.
16By your guilty plea, you admit you possessed the revolver.
17DNA profiling indicated extremely strong support for the proposition you had handled both the pistol (Charge 2) and the revolver (Charge 4).
18Because you had served a prison term for an indictable offence within five years of this offending and because you were subject to a Community Correction Order, with a supervision condition, when you offended, you were prohibited from possessing any firearm.
Charge 5 – Knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime
19In the other safe they found $150,505 in cash.
20By your guilty plea, you admit you dealt with the cash, which was proceeds of crime, and you knew it.
Charge 6 – Trafficking a drug of dependence (methylamphetamine)
21Inside the front pocket of the backpack there was a purse (“the purse”). Inside the purse, there was a snap lock bag which contained crystalline methylamphetamine. On the floor near the couch in your apartment there were four snap lock bags, which contained crystalline methylamphetamine also. The five bags contained 64.1 grams of methylamphetamine mixture.
22A trafficable quantity of methylamphetamine is 3 grams of mixture.
23You admit you were in possession of the methylamphetamine for sale.
Charge 7 – Trafficking a drug of dependence (1, 4 – butanediol)
24On a coffee table in your apartment, there were two plastic bottles and a smaller bottle and on the floor a glass vial which contained 335.6 grams of 1,4-Butanediol.
25A trafficable quantity of 1,4-Butanediol is 50 grams.
26You admit you were in possession of the 1,4-Butanediol for sale.
Charge 8 – Possess drugs of dependence – MDMA, MDA and buprenorphine
27In the purse, there were also three MDMA tablets weighing 1.7 grams of mixture and seven MDA tablets weighing 2 grams of mixture. And in your apartment there were 11 Buprenorphine tablets weighing half a gram of mixture.
Charge 9 – Possession of the drug dependence (cocaine)
28In your bedroom there was 23.5 grams mixture of cocaine in zip lock bags.
Charge 10 – Possession of drug dependence (heroin)
29In the purse, there was also a chunk of heroin which weight 7 grams of mixture.
30By your guilty plea you admit you were in possession of the various drugs of dependence.
Arrest and interview
31Police arrested you.
32At interview you told them you lived at a Vermont address. You said you were not working. You said an ex-girlfriend lived at the Burwood apartment but you had not been there since you stopped dating her. You denied any knowledge of the revolver and the cash found there.
33You were charged and remanded in custody.
34On 17 February 2021, you were committed to stand trial in this court.
35A case conference was held on 1 September 2021.
36On 3 November 2021, I made an order for your release on bail.
37On 11 April 2022, you pleaded guilty to all charges on the indictment except for Charge 7.
38On 15 June 2022, you pleaded guilty to that charge as well as possession of cartridge ammunition and breach of a Community Correction Order, which I made on 19 October 2018.[2]
[2] On 21 October 2022, I found the breach proved and confirmed the order. You substantially completed the order. You completed the kickstart DOA program Your breach was the commission of the index offences (Exhibit E: Contravention report dated 24 May 2022).
Criminal record
39You have admitted a criminal record.
40Relevantly,
(a) On 25 November 2008, at Melbourne Magistrates' Court you were convicted of, among other things, trafficking and possessing amphetamine and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and placed on a 12 month community based order.
(b) You breached the community based order. On 24 November 2009, you were re-sentenced to four months in prison, wholly suspended.
(c) On 13 February 2014, in this court you were sentenced to three months imprisonment for knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime and possess a drug of dependence.
(d) On 7 April 2017, at Melbourne Magistrates' Court you were convicted of trafficking MDMA, negligently dealing with proceeds of crime and drug possession and sentenced to 44 days imprisonment with an 18 month Community Correction Order.
(e) And on 19 October 2018, in this court I sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of eight months and 28 days with an 18 month Community Correction Order for negligently dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing methylamphetamine, a prohibited weapon, a controlled weapon and cartridge ammunition.
Personal circumstances
41You were born in November 1986. You were 33 years old when you offended. You are now 35.
42You were born in Melbourne.
43You have a sister who is six years older than you.
44Both of your parents were Vietnamese refugees.[3]
[3] Exhibit 5: Report from Maria Hutchinson dated 28 July 2021, p.1.
45Your mother was raised in Saigon. In 1979, during the civil war, with her parents and six siblings, she fled by boat. Her family settled in Australia in 1989 but her home environment was unstable.[4]
[4] Exhibit 6: Report of Dr Geoffrey Hogan dated 9 May 2011.
46You reported that your childhood was also characterised by instability, largely due to your parents “constant quarrelling”.[5]
[5] Exhibit 13: Report from Maria Hutchison dated 4 October 2022, p.1.
47According to your mother, your father was a gambler.[6] When you were around six years old,[7] your parents separated. You stayed with your mother.
[6] Exhibit 6: Report of Dr Geoffrey Hogan dated 9 May 2011.
[7] Exhibit 15: Reference letter from My Hang Nguyen Phuoc, Sister, dated 21 October 2022.
48For a time you lost contact with your father.
49You grew up at Box Hill and then Vermont.
50Your mother suffers mental illness with psychotic and depressive symptoms.[8]
[8] Exhibit 6: Report of Dr Geoffrey Hogan dated 9 May 2011.
51You described your home as a very unhappy place. Your mother had odd ideas and delusions and made strange demands of your sister and you.
52For a time she operated a ‘loan shark’ business where she often sent your sister and you to collect debts owed to her.[9]
[9] Exhibit 1: Plea Submissions dated 13 June 2022, p.7; Exhibit 14: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 14 October
2022, p.3.
53You attended local schools until Year 10. You described yourself as an angry child who frequently got into fights.[10]
[10] Exhibit 7: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 3 October 2018.
54From 2004 to 2009, you worked for a biofuel company which recycled cooking oil from restaurants. You had various jobs periodically for the next ten years or so. Your last work was labouring in a garage in 2015.[11]
[11] Exhibit 7: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 3 October 2018.
55When you were a teenager, your sister's boyfriend introduced you, and her, to heroin. You have battled an addiction to that drug and others ever since.
56As your criminal history shows, you have regularly trafficked drugs to make money and get drugs for yourself.
57On 5 May 2017, at your apartment police found among other things, $258,655 in cash, with two bags of methylamphetamine weighing 25.3 grams of mixture. You were arrested, charged with proceeds of crime, drug possession, ammunition and weapons offences and remanded in custody. You spent 533 days in remand custody until 19 October 2018, when I sentenced you to imprisonment for eight months and 28 days with an 18 month Community Correction Order.
58You were released on 8 June 2019, after spending two years and one month in custody and you commenced the Community Correction Order.
59You effectively completed the conditions of your order, which included supervision, a drug counselling program and judicial monitoring.
60On 25 March 2020, you were arrested at your apartment in possession of drugs, cash and firearms. This offending breached your CCO. Because you had completed the order for the breach which you admitted, I confirmed the original order and made no other order.
61
You spent 588 days in remand custody from the time of your arrest on
25 March 2020 until 3 November 2021, when I granted you bail on strict terms, including a condition you attend the drug residential rehabilitation program at The Cottage, Shepparton.
62Maria Hutchinson, a drug counsellor, was then The Cottage CEO.
63On 27 July 2021, while you were at Port Phillip Prison, she assessed you were suitable for admission to The Cottage.[12]
[12] Exhibit 5: Report from Maria Hutchinson dated 28 July 2021.
64On 4 November 2021, you went to Shepparton and lived at The Cottage. While you were there you came under the care of Professor Edward Ogden, an addiction medicine specialist for Goulburn Valley Health. He prescribed you Buprenorphine, which stabilised your drug cravings. He described you as “a delightful, responsible and helpful member of The Cottage community”.[13]
[13] Exhibit 11: Letter Professor Edward Ogden dated 28 January 2022.
65Over the next four months, you were drug abstinent and successfully completed the residential rehabilitation program.[14]
[14] Exhibit 9: Letter from Aaron Gilhooly dated 23 September 2021; Exhibit 4: Report from Maria Hutchinson dated 10 February 2022.
66When you left The Cottage you continued fortnightly counselling with Ms Hutchinson until 11 August 2022.[15]
[15] Exhibit 3: Report from Maria Hutchinson dated 25 March 2022; Exhibit 2: Report from Maria Hutchinson dated 14 June 2022; Exhibit 13: Report from Maria Hutchison dated 4 October 2022.
67She described you as highly motivated and honest in your sessions.[16]
[16] Exhibit 13: Report from Maria Hutchison dated 4 October 2022.
68She reported you were living with your mother, as your bail required and helping her with her mental health issues. You reconnected with your sister, who had re-partnered and had a child. You were also working through your problematic relationship with your partner.[17]
[17] Ibid.
69You told Ms Hutchinson since the birth of your nephew you wanted to have your own family and in July 2022, at an appointment with an IVF specialist, to your shock, your partner disclosed she already had children in China. Soon after, although you had two further sessions with Mr Hutchinson, you relapsed into drug use.[18]
[18] Ibid.
70On 20 August 2022, when you attended Forest Hill Police Station to report on bail, police arrested you in relation to your alleged involvement in an assault, in company, of two person outside the “9 Point” Karaoke Club in Melbourne CBD.[19] You admitted you were at the club, which breached your curfew condition of bail. In your car, police found two mobile phones, which was another breach of your bail conditions.
[19] Preliminary Brief – Informant White.
71You were charged with offences, which included intentionally cause injury, and remanded in custody.[20]
[20] Remand Summary.
72You have been assessed by two forensic psychologists, Jeffrey Cummins[21] and Ian MacKinnon.[22]
[21] Exhibit 8: Report of Jeffrey Cummins dated 29 September 2008.
[22] Exhibit 7: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 3 October 2018; Exhibit 14: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 14 October 2022.
73Mr Cummins assessed you on 15 September 2008. You were then 21 years old.
74In his opinion, you had developed an adjustment disorder in the context of dysfunctional family circumstances. You then had an opiate and amphetamine addiction. Mr Cummins described you “as being of at least high average intelligence [with] the ability to develop insight into [your] psychological problems”.[23]
[23] Exhibit 8: Report of Jeffrey Cummins dated 29 September 2008.
75Mr MacKinnon assessed you on 28 September 2018[24] and 14 October 2022.[25]
[24] Exhibit 7: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 3 October 2018.
[25] Exhibit 14: Report of Ian Mackinnon dated 14 October 2022.
76In his opinion, you have chronic complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of your disturbed childhood and “additional violent and threatening experiences in the criminal underworld”.[26]
[26] Ibid.
77
You told him, “A lot of my offending is related to abandonment issues,
self-sabotage”.
78Unsurprisingly, considering your history of substance abuse, he also diagnosed you with substance abuse disorder.
79In custody you are coping satisfactorily and you have work as a billet. While your substance abuse disorder is in forced remission, you have voluntarily continued your drug counselling with Mr Hutchinson.
80You told Mr MacKinnon, when you are released from prison you will likely reside with your mother and you hope to start a small business of some kind. In 2022, a friend got you some work as a web designer. You described yourself as “a computer nerd as a kid”.[27]
[27] Ibid.
81Your sister[28] and a friend[29] provided references.
[28] Exhibit 15: Reference letter from My Hang Nguyen Phuoc, Sister, dated 21 October 2022.
[29] Exhibit 16: Reference letter from Ying Tie, Friend, dated 16 October 2022.
82In an articulate and comprehensive letter, your sister confirmed your difficult upbringing without stable parenting. She wrote, “We grew up searching for family and friends and it turned out quite ugly at times… We both searched for acceptance, understanding and nurturing from others instead of from our parents”.
83Your sibling relationship was damaged as a consequence. The birth of her son in December 2020 has brought you closer together. While you were on bail you supported her and her son “as a caring, reliable and responsible uncle and brother”.
84She wrote your father worked in a factory for 45 years and will retire at the end of this year. While he's been absent from your lives he has helped at times and would have supported you in court at the court hearing but for ill health. He, along with your mother and sister have supported you today. Your sister hopes you can both continue to repair your relationship with your parents as they need you. She is happy to have you live with her when you are released from prison. You mother lives two minutes away.
85Your friend has known you since high school days. Each of you had a difficult childhood. He saw your suffer abandonment issues and resort to substance abuse to cope. In recent conversations with him you have said you want to change your life and you want to continue your rehabilitation with professional help. He believes you can.
Defence submissions
86Mr Barker, who appeared on your behalf, in thorough written and oral submissions, acknowledged your offending was serious.[30]
[30] Exhibit 1: Plea Submissions dated 13 June 2022; Exhibit 12: Supplementary Submissions dated 20 October 2022.
87He conceded, because the pistol and revolver were part of the “stock in trade” of your drug trafficking, the objective criminality of the firearm possession charges, Charge 2 and 4 is the most serious.
88He also conceded your dealings in large sums of cash indicate the “decent magnitude” of your trafficking activities.
89He acknowledged you have a relevant criminal history.
90He relied on the following factors in mitigation of penalty:
(a)
Firstly, the totality principle, to take into account the 533 days, which he categorised as dead time, you spent in custody until I sentenced you on
19 October 2018, your imprisonment for eight months and 28 days consequent upon that sentence and the four months you spent confined at “The Cottage”, while you completed the residential program.
(b) Secondly, the significant progress you made towards your rehabilitation by successfully completing the rehabilitation program and continuing counselling with Mr Hutchinson.
(c) Thirdly, the high utilitarian value of your guilty plea and the additional hardship of prison during the public health pandemic; and
(d) Fourthly, your childhood developmental difficulties as a result of a dysfunctional upbringing and your consequent complex PTSD.
91He submitted, notwithstanding your relapse into substance abuse and your recent reincarceration, considering your commitment to drug counselling, which you have continued while you have been on remand, the steps you have taken to repair your familial relationships and your family support, your prospects of rehabilitation are very good.
92Overall, he submitted the appropriate sentence is the imposition of a head sentence with a non-parole period, which would give you the opportunity for parole release forthwith.
Prosecution submissions
93Mr O'Toole, who appeared for the prosecution made helpful written and oral submissions.[31]
[31] Exhibit B: Prosecution Sentencing Submissions (Plea and Contravention of Community Correction Order) dated 10 June 2022; Exhibit F: Prosecution Plea Submissions dated 21 October 2022.
94He submitted the possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol, which was easily accessible in a backpack and a loaded revolver, also easily accessed and both capable of discharge without modification, are the most serious of your crimes.
95He submitted because your possession of those firearms was related to “other criminal activity”, a more severe sentence should be imposed for them.
96He also submitted, given the substantial quantities of cash involved, the knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime offences are serious examples of the type.
97He accepted your guilty plea has high utilitarian value and is evidence of remorse.
98He did not take issue with the opinions of Mr MacKinnon and Ms Hutchinson and the reports you made to them.
99He also accepted your periods of incarceration since May 2017 engage the totality principle.
100He also accepted you are entitled to a sentencing credit for the time you spent in the residential drug rehabilitation program.
101He submitted, considering your relevant and poor criminal record of drugs, proceeds of crime and firearms offences, your history of non-compliance with court orders[32] and your recent drug relapse, your prospects of rehabilitation are guarded.
[32] Note: you have been the subject of six community-based, or correction, orders and completed two.
102He submitted overall, the imposition of a head sentence and a non-parole period is warranted for your crimes.
Consideration
103Mr Nguyen, your crimes are very serious.
104You had a treacherous combination of drugs, firearm and cash at your home and your girlfriend's apartment.
105You should not have been in possession of any firearm. You had two of them, both lethal weapons, loaded and accessible for your use.
106They were part of the stock in trade of your drug trafficking activity. It elevates the seriousness of your possession of them.
107You had methylamphetamine and 1,4-Butanediol in trafficable quantities for sale.
108You also held substantial quantities of cash associated with your illicit trade.
109While your possession of firearms are the most serious offences, the offences of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime attract a higher maximum penalty.[33]
[33] 15 years’ imprisonment compared to 10 years’ imprisonment.
110It was not suggested the quantities of other drugs which you held were for any purpose other than your personal use.
111Your crimes warrant the imposition of a head sentence with a non-parole period fixed.
112There are mitigating factors, which I take into account to moderate the sentence I will impose.
113Firstly, you are entitled to a demonstrable sentencing benefit for your guilty plea.
114It has additional utilitarian value during the public health pandemic because it alleviates the current strain on the justice system.[34]
[34] Worboyes v R [2021] VSCA 169, at [35] and [39].
115It is also evidence of your remorse.
116Secondly, the removal of visits, reductions in programs and enforcement of lockdowns which have been necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has made prison harder for you and all prisoners.[35]
[35] Fawaz Sultan [2022] VSCA 205, [59].
117Thirdly, your background of disadvantage and chronic PTSD moderate your moral culpability to a degree.[36]
[36] Fawaz Sultan [2022] VSCA 205, [58] referring to Bugmy (2013) 249 CLR 571.
118Fourthly, totality is a relevant sentencing consideration.
119You are entitled to a sentencing discount for the time, four months you spent at “The Cottage” rehabilitation facility, which restricted your freedom of movement and association as time spend in “quasi-custody”.[37]
[37] Nathan Akoka [2017] VSCA 214, [105]-[111].
120You are also entitled to a reduction in your sentence for the 533 days spent in custody between your arrest on 5 May 2017 and 19 October 2019 when I sentenced you. While not precisely “dead time”,[38] because I did take the time into account in sentencing you on 19 October 2018,[39] they were not days declared as pre-sentence detention. While they are not available to you strictly as pre-sentence detention, as a “matter of justice”[40] you are entitled to a sentencing discount for them.
[38] See Renzella [1997] 2 VR 88, p.98.
[39] DPP v Phuoc Nguyen [2018] VCC 2320, [67].
[40] Renzella [1997] 2 VR 88, p.97.
121Because you are to be sentenced for a number of offences I must also ensure your overall sentences “are a just and appropriate measure of your total criminality”.[41]
[41] R v Postiglione (1997) 145 ALR 408, pp.416-17.
122Your rehabilitation is also a relevant sentencing consideration.
123When you were given the opportunity of bail you made a substantial attempt to rehabilitate by remaining drug abstinent while you successfully completed “The Cottage” program and thereafter you continued with voluntary non-residential counselling.
124It appears your partner was the trigger for your regrettable drug relapse.
125Since your arrest and your remand on 20 August 2022, you have kept your resolve to beat your addiction with professional assistance.
126Your supportive sister and your desire to be a better son, brother and uncle are protective factors for your rehabilitation.
127Your prospects of rehabilitation are contingent upon you holding your resolve and your motivation.
128I have also received helpful guidance from a number of appellate decisions in determining your sentence.[42]
[42] Berichon v R; Houssein v R (2013) 40 VR 490; Mario Accarito [2019] VSCA 264; Travis Kelly [2020] VSCA 171; Fawaz Sultan [2022] VSCA 205.
129By the sentence I impose I must denounce your conduct, punish you and deter you and others from committing crimes of the same or similar kind. I must also look to your rehabilitation.
130Considering the circumstances of your offending, your personal circumstances and antecedents and endeavouring to produce a sentence which reflects and promotes the purposes of sentencing in a manner appropriate to you:
(a) On Charge 1, negligently dealing with proceeds of crime, you are sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.
(b) On Charge 2, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, you are sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment.
(c) On Charge 3, knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime, you are sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment.
(d) On Charge 4, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, you are sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment.
(e) On Charge 5, knowingly deal with proceeds of crime, you are sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment.
(f) On Charge 6, trafficking in a drug of dependence methylamphetamine, you are sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.
(g) On Charge 7, trafficking in a drug of dependence 1,4-Butanediol, you are sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment.
(h) On Charge 8, possession of drugs of dependence, MDMA, MDA and Buprenorphine, you are sentenced to one month's imprisonment.
(i) On Charge 9, possess a drug of dependence cocaine, you are sentenced to three months' imprisonment.
(j) On Charge 10, possess a drug of dependence heroin, you are sentenced to one month's imprisonment.
131The sentence of two years and six months I have imposed on Charge 2 is your base sentence.
132I direct:
(a) Eight months of your sentence on Charge 4;
(b) Two months of your sentence on Charge 1;
(c) Six months of your sentence on Charge 3;
(d) Six months of you sentence on Charge 5;
(e) Four months of your sentence on Charge 6; and
(f) Two months of your sentence on Charge 7
be served cumulatively upon your sentence on Charge 2 and each other.
133Your total effective sentence is four years and 10 months’ imprisonment.
134To mitigate your punishment and promote your rehabilitation under supervision, I direct you serve three years’ imprisonment before you are eligible for parole.
135I declare you have served 588 days of your sentence by way of pre-sentence detention.
136While there is some artificiality in the process I declare but for your guilty plea, I would have sentenced you to six years and three months’ imprisonment and fixed a minimum non-parole period of four years and four months.
137On the summary charge of possess cartridge ammunition, where the maximum penalty is 40 penalty units you are convicted and fined $500.
138I make orders for the disposal of the drugs and forfeiture of the firearms and cash and other items seized in the terms of the orders filed with the court.
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