Jason Gioffre pleads guilty to commercial drug trafficking

When police searched a Geelong dad’s home they found hidden compartments, bags of ice, knuckle dusters, 3D-printed firearms, a cash counting machine, $160,000 cash and James Bond’s favourite gun – along with a silencer.

Geelong dad Jason Gioffre had previous drug trafficking convictions from 2013 and 2019, but it was his most recent offending that was most serious.

A serial drug trafficker nabbed with weapons, drugs and cash has interrupted his own plea hearing with a frustrated courtroom outburst.

Jason Anthony Gioffre, 37, fronted the County Court at Geelong on Tuesday, having pleaded guilty to trafficking a commercial amount of ice, possessing a firearm as a prohibited person, possessing steroids and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Police executed a search warrant at Gioffre’s Belmont unit on December 5, 2023, finding 290.5g of ice across numerous bags, multiple phones, drug trafficking paraphernalia including cash counting and currency binding machines, knuckle dusters, knuckle duster flick knives.

According to court documents, about $8,600 cash, hard drives and USB sticks were found in hidden compartments in a chest of drawers in the master bedroom.

A a hidden compartment under the kitchen counter revealed ziplock bags containing 3D printed firearms and components.

Two black bags, also found hidden under the counter, were searched the next day; one contained $53,000 cash, a Walther PPK semiautomatic handgun, a metal silencer and various magazines, boxes and rounds of ammunition. The other contained $100,000 cash.

The court heard Gioffre, who was supported in court by family members, was previously convicted of drug trafficking in 2013 and 2019.

Gioffre’s lawyer, barrister Jonathan Barrera, told the court Gioffre was “realistic” and understood he faced another sentence with a non-parole period.

Mr Barrera submitted there was no evidence anyone else was involved in the trafficking operation, and said Gioffre was not “part of some syndicate”.

Gioffre had a disadvantaged upbringing, started using cannabis and alcohol at 13 and developed an ice habit, Mr Barrera told the court.

The father-of-two was entrenched in a cycle of trafficking drugs and doing time, Mr Barrera said, and felt a degree of hopelessness.

Judge Michael Tinney was sceptical Gioffre’s own drug use played a role in his offending, comparing it to cases where addicts were “flipping tiny amounts” to support their habit.

Judge Tinney described what was revealed during the search, in particular the currency binding machine, as “like something out of Breaking Bad”.

The plea hearing was interrupted when Gioffre made an outburst from the dock after growing frustrated with the frank discussion between Judge Tinney and his lawyer.

He shouted: “you sit up on your f--king high horse” as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

When the matter was recalled, Mr Barrera continued his submissions, and said Gioffre was remorseful; as seen in his early plea, and in references written by his family.

Mr Barrera said Gioffre’s prospects of rehabilitation were guarded, but argued they were not extinguished, given Gioffre had a work history and had taken courses while on remand.

Judge Tinney said he was troubled by Gioffre’s “disturbing chronology of offending”.

Andrew McKenry, for the prosecution, argued the community’s protection was a major consideration in Gioffre’s case, and his history indicated trafficking was a “career choice”.

Gioffre will be sentenced on Thursday.

Originally published as Jason Gioffre pleads guilty to commercial drug trafficking