Director of Public Prosecutions v Veltmeyer

[2018] VCC 1594

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-18-00314

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JI VELTMEYER

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE HIGHAM
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	18 July 2018
DATE OF SENTENCE:	27 September 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Veltmeyer
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 1594

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:  Sentence – plea of guilty – trafficking in a drug of dependence – cocaine – dealing in wholesale quantities – deal with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime – no prior convictions – abstinence since arrest – strong work history – strong family support – good prospects of rehabilitation – general deterrence – delay

Legislation Cited:     Crimes Act 1958; Sentencing Act 1991
Cases Cited:            

Sentence:Community correction order of 24 months’ duration with conditions including supervision; judicial monitoring; 200 hours of unpaid community work; treatment and assessment drug abuse or dependency; and a fine of $5,000.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr J Livitsanos	Solicitor for Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms N Karapanagiotidis (Plea) Ms A Scroop (Sentence)	Leanne Warren & Associates

HIS HONOUR: 

1Ji Veltmeyer, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking a drug of dependence, the maximum penalty for which is a term of imprisonment of 15 years.

2You also pleaded guilty to a summary charge of dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime, namely $27,350.  The maximum penalty for this offence is a term of imprisonment of two years.

3The circumstances of your offending are as follows. 

4You were engaged in a trafficking enterprise with Peter Harris.  Evidence established that Mr Harris was orchestrating the trafficking, whilst you were primarily involved in the physical movement of the drugs and the money.  Between 25 November 2016 and 14 March 2017, you trafficked a total of 112 grams or 4 ounces of cocaine, and you dealt with $27,350 in criminal proceeds.

5On 20 December 2016 you placed your order for 1 ounce of cocaine with your up-line supplier, Robert Ale.  On 21 December 2016 you collected the drugs from your supplier.

6Between 6 and 9 January 2017 arrangements were being made between Mr Harris and Mr Ale confirming arrangements for the supply of 28 grams (one ounce) of cocaine.  Once arrangements had been finalised, you were sent by Mr Harris to collect the drugs.

7Between 23 and 26 January 2017, Mr Harris was again negotiating for the purchase of 56 grams (2 ounces) of cocaine.  Your involvement in that transaction related to transporting cash and eventually collecting the drugs.

8The reputation and credibility of your and Mr Harris' enterprise was such that drugs would, on occasion, be given to you in advance of payment.  Part of your role in the enterprise was to deliver cash.

9The summary charge relates to your delivering $7,000 to your up-line supplier, Mr Ale, on 25 November 2016; $5,000 to Mr Harris on 24 January 2017; $9,000 to Mr Ale on 1 March 2017; and to the finding of $6,350 in cash in your home address during the execution of a police warrant on 14 March 2017.

10I turn now to your personal circumstances. 

11You were born on 13 November 1988 and are currently 29 years of age, and you were aged 28 at the time of the offending.  You have no prior or pending criminal matters.

12You have three younger siblings, and you grew up in Beaconsfield in Melbourne's southeast.  Whilst you report that you were occasionally exposed to conflict between your parents growing up, you describe your childhood in positive terms.  You were not subject to any form of mistreatment as a child, nor did you suffer any significant illnesses, injuries or developmental issues.  You maintain a good relationship with your family and are currently living with your sister in the family home, which you purchased from your parents.

13You attended local schools, and you report that your schooling was without difficulty.  You did not experience any problems socially, and you had a wide circle of friends, particularly from playing football.

14Upon leaving school at the end of Year 10, you completed a plumbing apprenticeship.  You opened your own drainage contracting company approximately two years ago, and this has been a successful venture so far, with the demand for your business at its peak requiring you to employ up to two subcontractors.

15There was tendered on the plea as Exhibit 5JB a report from Mr Patrick Newton, clinical and forensic psychologist, dated 13 June 2018.  You reported to Mr Newton your view of your childhood as having been great, describing your parents as having gone to considerable lengths to provide an enriched environment for you and for your brothers and sisters.  At the same time, you recognised that both your mother and father had their own challenges in life.

16You reported to Mr Newton that you began to use drugs in your early 20s when you were out with friends on the weekend, and you were primarily taking MDMA (otherwise known as ecstasy) and amphetamines.  You were introduced to cocaine at the age of 23 by your peers, and you used it regularly for the next five years.  It seems that you became immersed in that lifestyle, surrounding yourself with friends who also used drugs, and your use escalated to the point in the period prior to your arrest in early 2017 where you were using 2 to 3 grams of cocaine at a time.

17You have maintained abstinence from drug use since that time.  The information that has been placed in front of the court suggests that you are being frank and honest in your disclosures and self-reports.  Mr Newton believes that you were not yet fully accepting that you had in fact become addicted to cocaine.  Mr Newton noted that you have participated in (albeit brief) drug education and counselling, and that you are able to demonstrate a reasonable awareness of the need to develop strategies for remaining abstinent from drugs. 

18Significantly, Mr Newton indicated that you remain relatively immature for your age, with your sense of identity being poorly formed relative to your age peers.  In short, you are still in the process of developing your views on the world and on major life issues, and further, your immersion in the drug-using subculture throughout the bulk of your 20s has, in Mr Newton's view, reinforced your immaturity.

19Mr Newton's opinion is that whilst your understanding of both relapse prevention skills and behavioural modification skills would benefit from further development, your extended abstinence from drugs bodes well for your overall recovery from drug addiction.  This progress, says Mr Newton, could be undermined if you were to be placed in a custodial environment for any extended period.

20Mr Newton concluded:

"At the risk of stating the obvious, the more his connections with prosocial individuals from mainstream society can be maintained and enhanced, and the more dysfunctional associations can be discouraged, the better Mr Veltmeyer's long-term adjustment is likely to be".

21I turn now to the submissions of counsel.

22Mr Livitsanos, on behalf of the prosecution, reminded the court that your trafficking enterprise was dealing in quantities of ounces, and it also involved a lot of cash being moved.  The offending covered a period of nearly six weeks.  I understood prosecution counsel to accept the proposition that you were the junior partner in the enterprise, your role being that as described by your counsel.

23Mr Livitsanos submitted that general deterrence is a primary consideration in cases involving trafficking in drugs; that means sending a message from this court to anyone tempted to behave as you did.  I agree with that submission.

24The prosecution fairly conceded that in your case a community correction order was within the range of the exercise of my sentencing discretion.

25Your counsel, Ms Karapanagiotidis, submitted, in short, that relevant sentencing purposes for your offending, having regard to its objective gravity and to your personal circumstances, could be sufficiently met by means of a suitable tailored community correction order, and that there was no need for a term of imprisonment to be served by you.  I hope I do no discredit to her succinct and helpful submissions by that summary.

26She identified that you had become involved in this offending through your contact with Mr Harris.  Mr Harris was a drug peer of yours and, at a time when your life had been spiralling out of control due to your drug use, he presented you with a prospect of securing a source of drugs for personal consumption by means of supplying to others.  Whilst you and Mr Harris were in a joint enterprise together, your role was, as has been stated by the prosecution, in essence, to go and collect the drugs.

27Ms Karapanagiotidis relied upon your early plea of guilty, which brought with it the utilitarian benefit of saving the community the time and expense of a trial, but also, she submitted, should be viewed as an indication of your remorse. 

28She submitted I should have particular regard to your voluntary engagement in treatment and rehabilitation.  You self-referred to Odyssey House on 10 April 2017, just one month after your arrest, and you have thereafter engaged regularly with a treating clinician at Odyssey House, Ms Sacca.  Between 17 August 2017 and 9 July 2018, you had submitted no fewer than 37 urine screens, all of which had been clear.  She submitted that there is clear evidence not merely of your expressed desire to remain drug-free, but of putting that desire into action.

29She urged upon me that this was the first time that you had appeared before the criminal courts. 

30She submitted that I should have regard to the delay in this matter, where proceedings had been protracted through no fault of your own by the desire to uplift your matters from the Magistrates' Court and join them in this court with other associated offenders.  In consequence, you have had this matter hanging over your head for a period of 18 months.  I pause there to observe that, on the other hand, a benefit of that delay has been to allow you to take the steps that you have done to prove your rehabilitation to the court.

31She emphasised that your previous good character, not merely reflected in the absence of prior convictions and contact with the criminal justice system, was positively asserted through the bundle of references, Exhibit 3JV on the plea, which I have read and considered.  In other words, not merely have you not been in trouble, but you have made a positive contribution to the community.

32You have a solid work history.  You started your own business approximately two years ago, and you are now employing subcontractors and you remain focused upon developing the business.

33She submitted that all of these matters, in addition to the fact that you have maintained strong family support, your stable relationship with your partner Belinda, who has made it very clear to you that should you go back to drugs you will lose her and your newborn child, the fact of you being a new father, your desire to be a hands-on and present parent, should lead me to the conclusion that your prospects of rehabilitation are excellent.  I accept that on the evidence in front of me, you have sought actively to change and engage in treatment.  I accept that there are grounds for optimism that you can return to the law-abiding, hardworking and decent life that you lived before it was hijacked by your drug use.

34Mr Veltmeyer, those of us who sit in the criminal courts are aware of this simple truth.  Drugs are tearing the heart out of our community.  We are quite simply losing a generation of young people through the scourge of drugs.  Anyone who participates in this evil trade can expect to be punished if and when they come before the courts.  Because Mr Veltmeyer, what might start out as a fun Saturday night, what might start out as "Why don't you try this", what might be regarded as "recreational" quickly spirals into the horrors of addiction.  Many lose everything; some lose their lives.

35Your own experience must show you how near you came to losing everything.  You have been very fortunate in that you have managed to retain the love and support of your family and your partner who are here in court, and you have the gift of a young and healthy child.

36It is not possible to establish the purity of the drugs that you trafficked, but what is clear from the above facts is that over a period of four weeks you were sourcing drugs from a large wholesaler, and you were on-selling those drugs in smaller amounts, but still in wholesale quantities.  You were not a trafficker selling to end users so you could afford your own fix; you were a partner in an enterprise that was sourcing drugs in ounce quantities, and thousands of dollars were exchanged between your enterprise and those from whom you brought your stock.

37Mr Veltmeyer, in sentencing you I must have regard to a range of different factors.  I must give effect to principles of both general deterrence and specific deterrence, that is, I must deter others from behaving as you did and I must deter you from any repeat of such behaviour.  I accept that you have taken great steps towards your rehabilitation, so in my view the need for specific deterrence is reduced, but it is not eliminated.  I must express the community's denunciation of your conduct, and I should also promote, if possible, your rehabilitation.  I must take into account the effect of your crime upon the community, and I must have regard to current sentencing practices and the maximum penalties imposed by Parliament.  In short, I must try to balance your personal circumstances with the circumstances of your offending.

38In light of the wreckage and damage that drugs cause, general deterrence will always be a primary sentencing consideration, that is, sending a message from this court that anyone who is tempted to traffick in drugs does so at their peril.  However, Mr Veltmeyer, in that balancing exercise I am not persuaded that the need for general deterrence requires that you lose your liberty today.

39I have had regard in coming to that decision to the role that you played in the trafficking enterprise.  I have had regard to your early plea of guilty, which in addition to the saving of time and money to the community, I do accept is an indication of your remorse.  The only true remorse that you can demonstrate is how you live your life in the future.  I have had regard to your prior good character.  I have had regard to the young man you once were, and in my view to the young man that you can be again.  I have had regard to your family supports, to the fact that you are a new father, and how such supports can prevent you from further offending and therefore be a protection for the community at large.  I have had regard to the good work that you have done since your arrest.  You have made great strides towards your rehabilitation.  In my view there is still more work to be done in terms of your understanding of what was it that led you to be involved in this trade and how best to manage the temptations that will lie ahead.

40If a young man such as yourself can be supported so as to give up drugs and to remain drug-free, that is a significant benefit that serves the interests of the community at large.

41If you could stand up please, Mr Veltmeyer.

42On Charge 1, trafficking in a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to a community correction order of 24 months' duration.

43On the summary charge of dealing in property suspected of being proceeds of crime, you are fined $5,000.

44As to the conditions of the community correction order:

i.Supervision;

ii.Judicial monitoring;

iii.200 hours of unpaid community work;

iv.Assessment and treatment for drug abuse or dependency;

v.Continue treatment with Dr Louise Steele, psychologist.

45I direct that hours of treatment successfully completed may be deducted from the hours of unpaid community work that you have to complete. 

46Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, had you not pleaded guilty, you would have been sentenced to a total effective sentence of 21 months’ imprisonment.

47I am sure Ms Scroop will make very clear to you, but I will ask you directly, you are in no doubt what will happen to you, should you be breached on this order, are you, Mr Veltmeyer?

48OFFENDER:  Go straight to gaol.

49HIS HONOUR:  You will go straight to gaol, exactly.  You leave in no doubt.  Ms Scroop, do you wish a stay for the payment of the fine?

50MS SCROOP:  Three months, Your Honour.

51HIS HONOUR:  I will allow a stay of four months because the court is closed.  The fine will be collected and managed by Fines Victoria. 

52I am going to see you for judicial monitoring on 27 November 2018 at 9.30.  Ms Scroop, you can explain the mandatory conditions to Mr Veltmeyer?

53MS SCROOP:  Yes, Your Honour.

54HIS HONOUR:  A core condition, Mr Veltmeyer, is that you do not commit any offence.

55OFFENDER:  Yep.

56HIS HONOUR:  Mr Livitsanos, I have got a disposal order and two forfeiture orders. I will sign those.

57MR LIVITSANOS:  Yes, Your Honour.

58HIS HONOUR:  Mr Veltmeyer, I have not sought to set you up to fail.  I want you to succeed.  The court wants you to go back to being that young man that you were, and obviously your little one does as well.  Do not let me down.

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