Director of Public Prosecutions v Schmidt
[2020] VCC 660
•22 May 2020
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONCR 19-02196
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JAYDEN SCHMIDT |
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| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE DOYLE |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 6 May, 12 May 2020 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 22 May 2020 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Schmidt |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2020] VCC 660 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence, guilty plea, trafficking in a drug of dependence, handling stolen goods, possessing a traffickable quantity of unregistered firearms, dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime, COVID-19, youthful offender, rehabilitation, general deterrence, just punishment, denunciation, lengthy parole period reflecting age of offender
Legislation Cited: S6AAA of the Sentencing Act; s7C(3) of the Firearms Act;
Cases Cited:DPP v Fleiner [2010] VSCA 143; DPP v Djemal [2020] VSCA 25, Basic v R [2017] VSCA 376
Sentence:4 years and 8 months imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 2 years and 4 months
S6AAA declaration: 5 years and 10 months with a minimum non-parole period of 3 years and 6 months
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr Pickering plea Mr Rooney sentence | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr S. Andrianakis | Emma Turnbull Lawyers |
HIS HONOUR:
1Jayden Schmidt, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence, namely, methylamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis, for which the maximum penalty is 15 years' imprisonment. You have also pleaded guilty to one charge of handling stolen goods, for which the maximum penalty is 15 years, and a charge of possessing a traffickable quantity of unregistered firearms, for which the maximum penalty is 10 years. You have also pleaded guilty to dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime, which has a two-year maximum, and possess cartridge ammunition for which the maximum is 14 penalty units.
2Mr Schmidt, you are now 22 years old. You were 21 at the time of the offences. You lived in Narre Warren. Your co-offender, Mr Mehrdadian, is now 19.
He was 18 at the time of the offences and living in Truganina. The other co-offender in this matter, who was part of this plea, Mr Rohan, is now 41. He was living in Cheltenham at the time of the offending. There is a fourth alleged co-offender, Malaki Salesui. His charges are listed for trial.
Facts
3The facts of the matter are set out in the prosecution opening, read in open court by the prosecutor and tendered as Exhibit P1. It forms part of my reasons for sentence in this matter.
4On February 9, 2019, police commenced Operation Thrives, directed at offending in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne by you, Mr Schmidt, and the co-offenders in this case. Police used both covert operatives and physical surveillance in investigation.
5I turn firstly to charge 1; this relates to the trafficking. Mr Schmidt, on
26 February 2019, you met with Covert Operative 309 (“CO 309”). After discussing a possible sale of two luxury stolen motor vehicles to the covert operative for $5,000 and $3,000, you discussed the purchase by the covert operative of cocaine and methylamphetamine.6The covert operative requested a sample before purchase. You and the covert operative went to a nearby house in Endeavour Hills. You went in and you returned soon after with two small bags, one with .5 of a gram of methylamphetamine, and the other with .5 of a gram of cocaine. You asked for $300 as payment for the drugs.
7These drugs were later analysed to be methylamphetamine at 85 per cent purity and cocaine at 26 per cent purity.
8When driving back from Endeavour Hills, you and CO 309 discussed you obtaining firearms, for him to purchase. CO 309 dropped you home. You gave him your mobile number and Wickr account with the name 'Toolpack1.'
9On 7 March 2019, Co 309 contacted you about purchasing 7 grams of ice. You met outside Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lonsdale Street, Dandenong that day, and you sold the covert operative 7 grams of ice for $1,000.
10Subsequent analysis of the drugs confirmed it was in fact 7.1 grams of ice, or methylamphetamine, at a purity of 86 per cent.
11On 12 March 2019, the same covert operative made arrangements with you to purchase 14 grams of ice. You arranged to meet a short time later in Narre Warren. You arrived in a Hyundai driven by alleged co-offender in this matter, Mr Salesui. You got into the covert operative's car and you sold him 14 grams of ice for $2,000, along with a Rolex Seamaster watch for a further $750.
This $750 is the basis of the summary charge of dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime.12Subsequent analysis of the drugs confirmed that what you sold was 14 grams of methylamphetamine with a purity of 84 per cent.
13On 28 March 2019, CO 309 arranged to purchase a full bag, being 28 grams of ice and 2 ounces, 56 grams of cannabis, from you. You arranged to meet in Dandenong. You arrived in a stolen Mercedes, registration ZVF871, and you entered CO 309’s vehicle. You sold him a ziplock bag with 28 grams of ice for $4,000 and another bag containing the 56 grams of cannabis.
14At the end of this deal, there was a second covert operative, Covert Operative 298 (“CO 298”), present, who asked you about inspecting the firearms. You said you could not do it at that time. However, you did say that you had some stolen cars you were looking to sell. You provided your Wickr account to CO 298.
15Subsequent analysis of these drugs confirmed that the methylamphetamine had a purity of 85 per cent, and the total amount of cannabis was 55.6 grams.
16The final transaction captured by charge 1 took place on 17 May after you had a meeting with CO 298 to discuss the purchase of an assault rifle, which is part of charge 5 against you, to which I will return. After that meeting, while driving away, CO 298 asked to buy half a bag of ice from you. He drove you to an address in Cranbourne, where you purchased 14 grams of ice from an unknown seller, and you then sold that ice for $2,000.
17This ice, or methylamphetamine, on analysis, had a purity of 84 per cent.
18I turn to charge 2, being the handling stolen goods. On 4 April 2019, you offered to sell a stolen 2016 Audi A4, registered ALA537, to CO 298 for $5,000. You arranged to meet CO 298 in Worrell Street, Dandenong. Mr Rohan drove the car into Worrell Street, and he handed the keys to the covert operative in return for $5,000. Mr Rohan left cannabis in the boot of the car. You are not charged in relation to that cannabis; Mr Rohan is.
19The Audi had been stolen in an aggravated burglary in Camberwell on 28 March 2019, so some seven days earlier. It had a value of $40,000.
20On 2 May, you again contacted CO 298 to sell him the stolen BMW X5. He said he could not attend but his partner, another covert operative, (“CO 319”), would meet you instead. You then arranged to meet in Worrell Street in Dandenong.
21This stolen BMW registered 1NCIG, was driven there by Mr Rohan. He took the money, which was $5,000. Mr Rohan then left in a waiting Audi sedan which had false number plates on it, which you were driving. The BMW in question had been stolen during an aggravated burglary in Deepdene on
28 April and was valued at $75,000.
22I go now to charge 5, which relates to possessing a traffickable quantity of unregistered firearms. Mr Schmidt, on 17 May, CO 298 attended at your house and went with you to the Eden Rise shopping centre in Berwick. You directed him to a Hyundai sedan parked in the shopping centre carpark.
23You, Mr Schmidt, introduced CO 298 to Mr Mehrdadian and to Mr Salesui.
Mr Salesui introduced himself as 'Lucky’. Mr Salesui asked CO 298 if he was interested in purchasing a firearm which they had for sale and directed
Mr Mehrdadian to show it to CO 298. Mr Mehrdadian described the firearm and took CO 298 to a black 2013 Audi, registration ABV600, and he opened the boot. He showed him the assault rifle. He said he would sell it for $15,000. He also said the Audi was 'hot.'24Mr Salesui told the covert operative they had a buyer for the assault rifle, but if the sale fell through, they would sell it to the covert operative. Mr Salesui instructed Mr Mehrdadian to drive the Audi and he would follow in the Hyundai. So that is part of charge 5, possess traffickable quantity of firearms.
25The assault rifle was sold to CO 298 on 21 May 2019. You, Mr Schmidt, arrived with Mr Salesui in the stolen Audi sedan. You parked in Olive Street, Dandenong before meeting the covert operative in Worrell Street. You then took CO 298 to Olive Street. He inspected the firearm in the boot of the stolen Audi. He purchased the assault rifle along with a loaded magazine containing approximately 40x 7.62 calibre rounds and then an additional 50x 7.62 calibre rounds which were wrapped in masking tape. That is the subject of the summary charge relating to the ammunition.
26CO 298 paid $18,000 for the firearm and the Audi. The Audi is part of charge 2 against you. You gave this money to Mr Salesui for him to count before driving away.
27This firearm was a fully automatic SKS assault rifle capable of firing 100 rounds per minute. The serial number had been removed and the firearm's origin is unknown.
28The Audi sedan was confirmed by police to be stolen. The original registration was ACB830, and it was obtained from the owner, Nemanja Zivkovic, on 2 April, with a fraudulent cheque. It was valued at $26,000.
29On 30 May, surveillance of you, Mr Rohan and Mr Salesui, showed that you were travelling in a convoy. You, and Mr Salesui were in a stolen Mercedes bearing false registration plates AIC288. Mr Rohan was driving a stolen Toyota Kluger bearing the false registration plates AHZ522.
30The following day, you contacted CO 298 offering to sell the stolen Mercedes and the sawn-off shotgun. You agreed on a price of $8,000 for the car and $4,000 for the firearm.
31On 4 June 2019, Mr Salesui arranged for a tow truck driver to deliver the stolen Mercedes to Worrell Street, Dandenong for the sale. You were collected by
Mr Rohan in the stolen car and driven to Worrell Street to wait for the tow truck. When the tow truck arrived at the Mercedes, you and Mr Rohan were arrested by police from the Special Operations Group.32The stolen Mercedes with the registration TT8228 had been stolen in an aggravated burglary in Glen Waverley on 3 May 2019. It was valued at $180,000.
33The Kluger was a 2017 model. It had been stolen from Sandhurst in an aggravated burglary on 14 May, and it was valued at $70,000. Its registration was AMP265.
34A sawn-off shotgun was located during a search of the boot of the Mercedes, along with nine shotgun shells.
35You were interviewed at the Dandenong police station after your arrest, and you denied the offending, or you made no comment.
Gravity of offending
36Mr Schmidt, your offending was extremely serious. You were able to quickly source drugs, recently stolen motor vehicles, some of very high value, and firearms. The firearms were only useful for serious criminal activity.
Your criminal conduct took place over months.37Mr Andrianakis, on your behalf, has argued that you had a subordinate role and you received no money from the sales you made to the covert operative. It is asserted that you received amounts of ice as payment for your involvement in these offences. This explanation was given through Mr Andrianakis and was advanced to mitigate your role in the offending. I indicated my scepticism about this assertion, and I asked Mr Andrianakis if he intended to call evidence from you about this issue. There is, of course, no obligation on you to give evidence, and you did not. As a matter in mitigation, I am required to be satisfied of it on the balance of probabilities.
38I note that in February 2019 when you first met the covert operative, he observed that you had in the order of $10,000 in $50 notes in a bum bag. His estimate of $10,000 seems to me to be speculative to an extent, so I do not act on the basis that you in fact had $10,000 in the bum bag, but
I do find it unlikely that you earned this amount of money working, even if you were engaged in some work at that time. You told Mr Mackinnon you had not been employed since shortly after you did the Handbrake Turn program around 2015. In any case, whether you were working to some extent or not, that was a large amount of money you had with you in open sight whilst conducting a criminal transaction, and you put the $300 you were paid for the first sample of drugs you were provided into this bum bag. This is not decisive, but it is a circumstantial fact I have had regard to in assessing your explanation.39In the period of this offending, you were clearly devoting much of your time to your criminal endeavours. The offending also involved several other people, including your co-offenders, so some coordination of activity was required. Your conduct involved serious high-risk criminality.
40Given the scale of your criminality and the other matters I have outlined, I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you received no financial reward from these offences.
41However, I do not have any direct evidence about what you did ultimately receive in return for your offending. In the end, whatever your benefit was, it does not matter a great deal. Your actions indicate you were enthusiastically participating in this serious criminal activity.
42Your drug trafficking took place over a four-month period. It involved three different drugs and five transactions, including on one occasion selling
28 grams of ice for $4,000. You took orders for drugs, and you had a supplier. You were quickly able to obtain what was requested by the covert operatives.43The total amount of ice sold by the covert operatives, on my arithmetic, was
63.6 grams mixed substance, 53.8 grams of pure methylamphetamine. I note that this amount is more than the current threshold for a commercial quantity of Ice, which is 50 grams pure.44The prosecution acknowledges by the charge they have pursued that you did not have the requisite intent for trafficking in a commercial quantity. I mention this only to illustrate that your trafficking must be regarded as a serious example of trafficking simplicter, considering the quantity involved. A further serious aspect of the trafficking is the timeframe over which it occurred. The fact that you also sold cannabis and cocaine adds to the criminality involved in the trafficking.
45Considerations of general deterrence and denunciation must be emphasised in the sentences imposed for such offences.
46The charge of handling stolen goods involved five different motor vehicles and occurred over a period of two months. By selling these vehicles, recently stolen, most of them in aggravated burglaries - you were promoting the market that drives such serious offending.
47You may have been a middleman in this offending, but you cannot have been far from the hub of the system in place to dispose of these recently stolen vehicles, given the proximity in time to the actual thefts. This is a serious example of handling stolen goods.
48The offence of possession of a traffickable quantity of firearms pursuant to s.7C of the Firearms Act has a maximum penalty of 10 years.
49As the Court of Appeal pointed out in the cases of DPP v Fleiner [2010] VSCA 143 and DPP v Djemal [2020] VSCA 25, dealing with offending against s.7C, the purposes of the Firearms Act are protective, and general deterrence is important. As I follow it, you were a prohibited person under the Firearms Act, but s.7C(3) specifically provides you are not able to also be found guilty of that offence. But I have had regard to that feature in assessing the offending in this case.
50The guns you were prepared to facilitate releasing into the community for money had no legitimate purpose. The SKS rifle was an automatic weapon capable of firing 100 rounds a minute. This is a very dangerous weapon.
The other firearm was a sawn-off shotgun.51To involve yourself in the distribution of such weapons, along with ammunition in the case of the SKS rifle and the shotgun, shows a total disregard for the safety of the public and a willingness to support serious criminal activity, because these weapons had no other purpose.
52There was a discussion on the plea of the Court of Appeal decisions of DPP v Basic [2016] VSCA 99 and DDP vBerichon [2013] VSCA 319, which relate to the charge of prohibited person in possession of firearms, but they are relevant to an assessment of your offending.
53In Berichon, Justice of Appeal Redlich observed that where the conclusion is not open that the possession of the firearms is associated with ongoing criminal activity, sentences of a low order of imprisonment are usually appropriate - but where the evidence enables the conclusion that the possession is for the purpose of criminal activity, more severe sentences are in order.
54Your conduct, as discussed on the plea, does not fit neatly into either category, but you sold firearms, serious firearms, to a person you believed was a criminal. As far as you were concerned, you were providing firearms for a criminal purpose. In my view, you fall into the higher category.
55In the case of Basic v R [2017] VSCA 376, the Court of Appeal reviewed several sentences for prohibited person offences. I have taken those cases into account as having some relevance as indicating current sentencing practices for firearms offences, albeit for a different charge.
56After initiating the discussions about guns with Covert Operative 309, the covert operatives continued to press you on the topic. You expressed some reluctance about involvement in the sale of the firearms several times. I take these matters into account in assessing your moral culpability for the offending.
57Further, on my understanding of the summary, you seem to have been clearly acting as a conduit to the seller in relation to this offending, but, nevertheless, very closely involved in the sales.
58However, any misgivings you had about selling these guns or facilitating the sale of these guns, not just the assault rifle, but later the sawn-off shotgun as well, shows that you understood the gravity of what you were involved in.
59Deterrence, both specific and general, denunciation, just punishment, and community protection are all important sentencing objectives of this offending.
Guilty plea
60You pleaded guilty at a committal mention in this matter. No witnesses were cross-examined. This was a plea of guilty at effectively the earliest opportunity. You have saved the community the time and the cost of a trial, and you have spared the witnesses from having to give evidence. I give you credit for the utilitarian value of your plea. I also accept that your plea has facilitated the course of justice and is consistent with some remorse for your offending.
Personal circumstances
61You are now aged 22. You were 21 years old when you committed the offences. You were born in Australia. Your mother is of Samoan background. She was 17 years old and a single mother when you were born. You have never known your father or even his identity. You have a half-brother who is
13 years old. Your mother lived with her parents until she met your stepfather.62You grew up in outer south-east Melbourne. You recall your childhood as a happy period in your life, and you report no abuse or any significant trauma growing up. Your extended family is large and supportive. You say that you have always had a close relationship with your mother. You have a stepfather who lived with your family for about eight years, until you were aged 16.
63You told the psychologist who assessed you and provided a report, Mr Ian Mackinnon, that when that relationship broke down, your mother became depressed and you started doing your own thing. You started associating with older kids who were using drugs, and no-one pulled you up.
64Your grandmother has provided a letter that sets out your mother's mental health struggles and the effect they had on you. She also says in her letter than when your mother formed her relationship with your stepfather, you felt left out and you disliked your stepfather. You did not adjust easily to this situation, and you became rebellious.
65Your grandmother says your mother's depression resulted in several attempted suicides after her relationship with your stepfather broke down. She lost her job and her housing. You eventually moved back in with your grandmother, and your half-brother went to live with your stepfather, his father.
66It was against this background of instability that you began mixing with antisocial peers, using drugs, and committing criminal offences.
67Your mother also provided a letter on your behalf. She describes the breakdown of her mental health after the relationship with your stepfather fell apart. She says that her depression and anxiety caused her to lose her job and her house, and that she attempted suicide on several occasions. She says in one letter that she wrote to you, she blamed you for her inability to cope with life. She identifies this as a point at which you began to associate with the wrong group of people.
68In my view, the difficulties of your family life in childhood and adolescence do serve to explain to some extent the downward trajectory of your life since your mother's relationship with your stepfather ended and the onset of her mental health issues.
69You attended Catholic primary and secondary schools until Year 8. After this, you went to a P12 college in Narre Warren South. You left school during Year 10. You then commenced the Handbrake Turn program on mechanics. Around the time you completed this course, you were in fact charged with offences and remanded in custody. This was in 2015. You briefly worked as a labourer when you were released. You told Mr Mackinnon you had not worked since then.
70I turn to the issues raised in the psychological report of Mr Mackinnon. You told him that you started drinking at 16, using cannabis at 17, and by the time you were aged 20, you were using ice habitually, including during the period of this offending. Mr Mackinnon has diagnosed you as having a substance abuse disorder which he says contributed to the offending by:
'degrading his ability to reason and make sound judgment, causing perceptual and cognitive distortion, eroding his sense of morality and personal responsibility, making him more impulsive and easily frustrated, engendering a destructive and self-destructive tendency, and a self-absorbed perspective that tended to disregard the needs and rights of the others.'
71I am prepared to act on the basis you did have a drug issue and it made some contribution to this offending, but I do note there is little evidence of prolific drug use apart from what you told Mr Mackinnon. The severity of your drug problem and the extent to which it contributed to the offending is not entirely clear to me.
72Mr Mackinnon also identifies as a contributor to your offending your willingness to:
'complete tasks and offences in order to impress others and maintain his status in the antisocial milieu he was involved in.'
73Mr Mackinnon has assessed your intelligence as being at the lower end of the normal range, possibly in the borderline range. In his opinion, this means you are more likely to be a follower rather than a leader. He says you would benefit from engaging with a psychologist or other experienced counsellor to formulate positive vocational, recreational and social goals.
74Mr Mackinnon is of the view that you are unlikely to cope well in a prison environment. He has referred to your injury from an assault in the prison, and said you are suffering from situational anxiety and depression.
75He points out that you are currently unable to participate in prison-based rehabilitative programs which have ceased because of the COVID-19 virus.
Criminal History
76You have a reasonably significant criminal history, including prior convictions for trafficking in cannabis and dealing in the proceeds of crime in 2017, and several charges of handling stolen goods - highly relevant prior convictions.
77I do note, however, quite a few of your previous offences were dealt with in the Children's Court.
78You have received two community correction orders in the past, which you breached.
79Although far from the worst, your criminal history is a sizable record for someone of your age. This offending represents a substantial escalation of criminality. Of course, you are not to be punished again for your previous offences, but your prior convictions are significant enough that specific deterrence is a sentencing consideration of some importance.
80Further, although the criminality of your prior offending is well below that involved in the current offences, it is a sufficiently serious history to warrant caution in assessing your prospects of rehabilitation.
Prospects of rehabilitation
81I turn to those prospects of rehabilitation. Mr Schmidt, you are still just 22 years old, and you were 21 when you committed these offences. Rehabilitation must remain an important sentencing consideration for someone your age, notwithstanding the very serious nature of the offences for which I must sentence you, and notwithstanding your prior convictions, which include two community correction orders which were designed to promote your rehabilitation.
82You have a supportive family and I have no doubt that that will continue to be the case when the time comes for you to re-enter the community. I have read the letters of support from your mother, your grandmother, your aunt, Mr Adam, who is a pastor and your cousin, and willing to provide support, and from
Mr Gonzales, a family friend.83You told Mr Mackinnon that you were hanging around with the wrong people and got caught up with it all. You said you were influenced by others, and your behaviour was affected by ice. You also told Mr Mackinnon that you understood that guns can be used to kill people and that drugs affect a lot of people badly. You told him you want to live a normal life and that you come from a good family.
84In these comments, you display insight into the gravity of your offending, and you display your intention to try and lead a law-abiding life. You will need to live up to these sentiments.
85The content of the letters of support and the insight demonstrated in your comments to Mr Mackinnon give me some confidence that when you are released, you will be able to turn away from a life of serious criminality.
86However, you have been offending for several years now, and there are real risks of you continuing along the path of serious criminality disclosed by this offending. In my view, these risks are best addressed by an extended period of parole, in view of your age.
87And of course, there is a risk that an extended period of imprisonment could result in you becoming further immersed in the criminal subculture. But I must balance these matters against the need for deterrence, denunciation and just punishment.
88You have spent nearly a year in adult prison, and it has not been easy for you. You were assaulted in custody and sustained an injury to your ankle which required surgery. You still have pain from this injury, and you currently have a restricted range of movement in the ankle. You are fearful that you could be assaulted again.
COVID-19
89As a result of the COVID-19 virus, lockdowns have been a feature of prison life in recent times. At your prison, lockdowns have been in place for half a day every week. You were having weekly visits from your family, but since the suspension of visits, you have only been able to speak to your mother and your grandmother via video conference. You have not been able to attend the prison chapel since the change to prison conditions commenced. Rehabilitative programs are currently suspended. I take all these matters into account in sentencing as increasing the burden of your imprisonment.
Pre-sentence detention
90You have been in custody now since the day of your arrest, which was 4 June 2019, so you have 353 days of pre-sentence detention to be deducted from the sentence that I will impose.
91Mr Andrianakis also pointed out that you were in custody between 13 November 2015 and 12 December 2015 for offences that were dealt with in March 2016. This was a period of 39 days when you were aged 18. You were ultimately sentenced to a community correction order at the Dandenong Magistrates' Court on 11 March 2016. There is no record of the time you spent in custody having been taken into account in arriving at the decision to place you on a community correction order.
92I do not know whether the magistrate took into account those 39 days, but in the circumstances, I have had regard to those 39 days in formulating the sentence in this matter in the way submitted by Mr Andrianakis as Renzella time.
Sentencing principles
93Mr Schmidt, the serious nature of your offending, your culpability for it, and the need to emphasise both general and specific deterrence and denunciation dictate that only a reasonably significant period of imprisonment and a non-parole period is appropriate. Community protection is also a relevant consideration.
94I have attempted to balance those considerations against the need to promote your rehabilitation, in view of your age. This is your first sentence of imprisonment, and it is a lengthy period for someone aged 22.
95I have fixed a non-parole period that will see you supervised in the community for an extended period of time if the Parole Board decide to release you on parole at the expiration of the minimum period.
96In formulating the sentence in this case, I have had regard to the totality principle which requires me to ensure that your overall sentence remains just and appropriate for the whole of your offending. I have moderated the orders for cumulation to the extent necessary to give effect to this principle.
97In arriving at the orders for cumulation, I have also had regard to the close connection in time and circumstances between charges 1, 2 and 5. However, each of these charges stands alone as a serious crime, and the orders I have made seek to reflect this as well.
Sentences
98Balancing all these matters as best I can, the sentences I impose are as follows.
99In relation to charge 1, trafficking in a drug of dependence, I sentence you to a period of two years and six months' imprisonment.
100In relation to charge 2, handling stolen goods, I sentence you to a period of two years and three months' imprisonment.
101In relation to charge 5, possession of a traffickable quantity of unregistered firearms, I sentence you to two years and six months' imprisonment.
102In respect of dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime, one-month imprisonment.
103Possess cartridge ammunition, you are convicted and discharged on the basis that I took that matter into account as an aggravating surrounding circumstance in charge 5.
104I order that one year of the sentence on charge 2 and 14 months of the sentence on charge 5 are cumulative on the base sentence for charge 1, and on each other.
105That makes a total effective sentence of four years and eight months.
106I fix a minimum non-parole period of two years and four months.
107I declare that 353 days of pre-sentence detention is to be deducted from the sentence that I have imposed. This will be entered into the records of the court.
108Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of five years and 10 months with a minimum of three years and six months.
109Now, were there other orders to be made, Mr Rooney?
110MR ROONEY: Yes, Your Honour. In relation to Mr Schmidt, there was disposal orders in relation to the drugs and other items of (indistinct) value.
111HIS HONOUR: No objection to those orders?
112MR ROONEY: They've all been filed with the court. There was also ‑ ‑ ‑
113HIS HONOUR: All right. I will make a disposal order in the terms sought. Anything else?
114MR ROONEY: There was also what's called firearms forfeiture orders, Your Honour. That relates to the three firearms.
115HIS HONOUR: All right. Those orders are also made in the terms sought.
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