R v Flores

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v FLORES [2024] NSWDC 457

Hearing dates:

15 August 2024

Decision date:

27 September 2024

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

NOMAN SC DCJ

Decision:

Aggregate sentence imposed. Indicative sentences nominated: Sequence 10, possession offence: 16 months; Sequence 11, trafficking offence: 3 years and 8 months; Sequence 12, import offence: 5 years and 4 months. Sentence imposed is 6 years and 2 months with a non-parole period of 4 years to commence 30 May 2023. Eligible for release to parole 29 May 2027.

Catchwords:

SENTENCING — Drug offences — Commonwealth offences – possess marketable quantity of unlawfully imported border-controlled drug – traffic marketable quantity of controlled drug – import marketable quantity of border-controlled drug – imprisonment

Legislation Cited:

S16A Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)

ss302.3, 307.2, 307.6, 311.2 and 311.4 Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)

Cases Cited:

R v Nguyen; R v Pham [2010] NSWCCA 238

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

Rex;
Bryan Flores

Representation:

Counsel:
Crown: D New
Defence: D Berents

File Number(s):

2023/173033

JUDGMENT

1. The offender, Bryan Flores, entered pleas of guilty in the Local Court to the following three offences:    

1. Possess marketable quantity of unlawfully imported border-controlled drug (namely cocaine) contrary to section 307.6(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code;

2. Traffic in marketable quantity of a controlled drug (namely cocaine) contrary to section 302.3(1) and section 311.2 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code; and

3. Import marketable quantity of border-controlled drug (namely cocaine) contrary to section 307.2(1) and section 311.4 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

2. The maximum penalty for each of these offences is imprisonment for 25 years and/or 5000 penalty units.

3. The general sentencing principles that I must apply are contained in Part 1B of the Crimes Act, 1914 (Cth) (‘the Act’). In determining the sentence to be passed, I must impose a sentence that is of a severity appropriate in all the circumstances of the offence: s16A(1) Crimes Act. I must also take into account the matters listed in s16A(2) of the Act.

4. On 10 April 2024 the offender entered pleas of guilty in the Local Court.

5. The Crown tendered the agreed facts, criminal history, custodial history and the Sentencing Assessment Report. Written submissions and a schedule of comparable cases were provided.

6. The offender tendered 15 documents including a letter of apology [the full copy was tendered separately], a psychological report, letters of support, certificates and Corrective Services documents. Written submissions, statistics and two comparable cases were provided.

7. The limitations of the cases and statistics were acknowledged.

8. The nature and circumstances of the offences are set out in the agreed facts. To the extent a different account is asserted in a direct or hearsay account of the offender, I disregard it. I shall proceed on the facts as settled between the parties, supplemented where appropriate. The offender did not give evidence. The additional evidence sought to be relied upon, informing the facts and the subjective case, emanates from his letter and his hearsay representations.

9. The first time the offender, an American citizen, contemplated involvement was…