R v Carapelloti
[2013] VCC 1877
•28 November 2013
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. CR-13-02164
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| NICHOLAS CARAPELLOTTI |
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JUDGE: | His Honour Judge Montgomery | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | ||
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 28 November 2013 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | R v Carapelloti | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2013] VCC 1877 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr J Dickie | |
| For the Accused | Mr M Challinger |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Nicholas Carapelloti, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to defraud. The facts of the matter are set out in Exhibit 1 of the prosecution opening. Your counsel does not take issue with any of those facts, so it is a factual basis upon which you are sentenced. That exhibit will be attached to the file and any reader of these reasons who wants to know the factual basis of my sentence, can look at the file and that exhibit. I will not now recount the facts.
2 The prosecution has submitted that a which I imposed on your two co-offenders is within the sentencing range. You entered a plea of guilty at the committal before any witnesses were called and the matter was dealt with by way of a hand up brief. So you get the benefit of an early plea of guilty which is an indication of acceptance of responsibility by you for your offending and also saves the court the cost of a trial.
3 Your counsel has submitted that I should begin with parity. Looking at what I imposed on the other two which was a fine of $10,000 each, but submits that you had a lesser role, you were not the original party to the agreement, not the architect, but entered it out of misguided loyalty, although you intended to make money out of it by selling parts from the car. You knew your co-offenders pretty well he said.
4 Your personal background is you are the youngest of three. You grew up in the Gembrook area. You live with your mother and your brother. They are both in court. You left school at Year 11 and you wanted to join the army, but because of medical problems, you could not so you get a job with Beaconsfield Tractors where you were making good money. You and some other young fellas from the area decided to go and work in the mines in South Australia where you were earning very good money, $3,500 a week. You came back for your 21st in 2012, you were a witness to a motor car accident and played a vital role in assisting people injured in it, particularly a young woman who bled to death in your arms.
5 Understandably, that was a very unsettling experience and the effects of that remain with you I am told. You went back to the mines for three months and came back after that and worked with Beaconsfield Tractors. You were head hunted by another firm, but when the police turned up to interview you for this offending, they dismissed you. You now work as an agricultural labourer making $580 a week, if you do a full week. You say that people in the community have lost respect for you. Your mother is understandably very upset with your behaviour here, you broke up with your girlfriend. You were trying to save for a deposit on a house, but that has been consumed by legal expenses and other matters in relation to this.
6 Your grandmother has written a reference which I have read and I take that into account. As I said, I take into account your plea of guilty, you have no other prior criminal history. As I said in relation to the other two offenders, this was not only dishonest, but incredibly stupid. Obviously the community pay for this sort of thing because insurance companies do not take the cost on it themselves, they pass it onto people who pay the premiums for this sort of fraud. They are being defrauded all the time with this sort of behaviour and the community pays because it means increased premiums. So I have to consider what is called general deterrence, that is I do not want other people doing this and I have to look at what is called specific deterrence, that is, I do not want you to do it again. I have told you what I think of it and whether I think you might do it again. I consider what are your rehabilitation prospects and I look at what I gave to your co-accused.
7 You are a young man, you are going to get a conviction. Now that is a very serious matter. If you have a conviction for conspiracy to defraud, it is a serious charge. When you go out to fill out forms for jobs, passports or visas to countries, they ask you do you have any convictions and you have got that one popping up, so straight away you are on a back foot for being stupid.
8 So you would not want to do it again. If you were to commit another criminal offence, with that sort of conviction, even though I am going to give you a fine, do not expect the courts to do you any favours. Look, I suspect that you are a decent young man, you clearly showed that in how you reacted in the accident. Your family are here to support you. Your mother probably wants to take you outside and whack you. I have got four kids, I know exactly how she feels, but in the circumstances of this case, taking into account all of those factors and the fact that it was not your idea, and stupidly you agreed to go along with it. I am prepared to impose a lesser fine so I convict and fine you in the sum of $5,000. Do you need three months to organise time to pay that?
9 MR CHALLINGER: Could Your Honour allow six and then it would be paid within that time.
10 HIS HONOUR: Well let's see, if I give you three, you can go down - - -
11 MR CHALLINGER: And make arrangements.
12 HIS HONOUR: And talk about time payment to the registry.
13 MR CHALLINGER: As Your Honour pleases.
14 HIS HONOUR: All right, so I'll give you three months and during that time - and perhaps you might want to do it today, you go downstairs to the registry and talk about some time payment. If you do not pay, you come back and might do community work or inevitably if you do not want to do that, you go to jail. So come to some arrangement with them about how to pay that and it is all finished, but as I said, no one wants to see you again in a court, at the back of the court. All right, any other matters I need to look at?
15 MR DICKIE: Your Honour (indistinct) with s.6AAA, can you - - -
16 HIS HONOUR: I thought it was - $5,000 enough for that last time.
17 MR DICKIE: I think it's with any claim really Your Honour. (indistinct) generally 6AAA.
18 HIS HONOUR: It's on the other one, they told me because it was $10,000 I had to do it. Look I'll - - -
19 MR DICKIE: Thank you Your Honour.
20 HIS HONOUR: It doesn't - no skin off my nose. Whether I do it or don't do it. If it had gone to trial and you were convicted by a jury of this, I suspect you would be doing time and probably around eight months, so you have saved yourself from that by fessing up to it.
21 MR DICKIE: As Your Honour pleases.
22 MR CHALLINGER: As Your Honour pleases.
23 HIS HONOUR: I'll pack all these, you can come out of there thanks Mr Carapellotti. Adjourn the court thank you.
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