Adelaide drug dealers named and shamed, after judge urges the media to expose how even low-level drug trafficking leads to jail
Some started by selling pills to mates, others let greed get out of control. But as a senior judge urges the media to expose how seriously the law treats drug trafficking, these Adelaide dealers discovered the grim consequences of getting hooked in the drug trade.
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One of South Australia’s most experienced judges has issued a blunt warning to young people who don’t understand how seriously the law treats drug traffickers – make the jump from drug user to dealer and you will get a jail sentence.
In a recent case, District Court Judge Stephen McEwen urged the media to highlight how seriously the law will punish young people who start selling drugs to their mates to fund their own habit.
“My experience in this court suggests that many young people may be unaware of, or underestimate, the seriousness with which Parliament and therefore the courts take drug trafficking,” Judge McEwen told 19-year-old ecstasy dealer Tyler James Harry as he jailed him for a minimum of one year.
“I encourage the media to get the message out there – young people need to know if they take the step from drug user to drug trader they are taking a very serious step indeed and putting themselves at risk of a likely jail sentence.”
In another recent case, Judge McEwen sentenced cannabis trafficker Robin Johnathon Perks to a minimum of 15 months in jail and said “drugs are a ubiquitous and serious problem in society”.
“Consumers of drugs are treated with a degree of sympathy and assistance to address their drug problem,” Judge McEwen said.
“Suppliers of drugs are treated very differently by the law. If you make that decision to get into the supply chain of drugs you are very likely to go to jail.”
Here are 10 recent District Court cases in which low to medium-level drug dealers discovered how seriously the law treats their crime.
In most cases they are now serving time in jail.
LEAH CONSTANCE MITSOULIS
Her eyes were red and glazed as she clutched her handbag to her chest – inside was a pencil case full of crystal meth and cash.
Leah Constance Mitsoulis, 53, received a suspended sentence for drug trafficking after she was busted near the Glynde Hotel on Saturday, April 20 last year.
Police saw a car turn into the pub’s car park just after midnight, but after noticing the patrol, driver Carmine Carbone quickly accelerated out and around the corner.
On the passenger side was a glassy-eyed Mitsoulis.
After they were pulled over near the hotel, both Carbone and Mitsoulis stepped out of the vehicle and approached police.
The pair appeared “extremely nervous” and could not provide a proper explanation to why they sped away after noticing police.
Mitsoulis’s eyes were “red and glazed” and she spoke erratically.
Close to her chest, she was grasping a handbag that contained an ice pipe, 10 small bags of crystal meth, $200 in cash and a set of digital scales.
Her mobile phone showed text messages clearly proving she was trafficking drugs from late December 2018 until her arrest.
Judge Paul Muscat handed Mitsoulis a prison sentence of two years, four months and 24 days – but agreed to suspend it because of her physical and mental health issues.
“I want you to understand this decision was very finely balanced,” Judge Muscat said.
“I also want you to clearly understand that you are extremely fortunate not to be serving this sentence in the Women’s Prison.”
Judge Muscat said it was “extraordinary” that Mitsoulis was using methylamphetamine to “deal with the reality” of her extensive medical issues, including chronic bronchitis and ventricular dysfunction.
SHAUN MICHAEL BRANDON AND HAYLEY CAROL SHORT-LARKING
Ice pipes, $450 cash and a tick list showing outstanding drug debts were found in a couple’s Goolwa South bedroom in June last year.
The sentencing judge blasted the drug-dealing pair for contributing to the “grave harm done to persons who are involved in this insidious trade”.
Two mobile phones were also seized from their home, containing messages proving Shaun Michael Brandon, 32, was involved in meth trafficking.
About 15.5g of methylamphetamine with a purity of 70 per cent was found in various plastic containers on their bedside table, while a collection of drug paraphernalia was discovered.
The tick list – a list of names who owe drug money to a dealer – showed Brandon was owed more than $1000 in drug debts at one point in time.
Judge Paul Cuthbertson handed Brandon a prison sentence of six years, two months and eight days after he failed to comply with good behaviour bonds from previous convictions.
In sentencing, Judge Cuthbertson detailed Brandon’s extensive criminal history, which include other drug trafficking charges, unlawful possession and driving while disqualified.
The court also heard Brandon has a history of substance abuse and started using cannabis and prescription medication at the age of 13. He will be eligible for parole in three years and two months.
Brandon’s girlfriend and co-accused, Hayley Carol Short-Larking, 20, was also convicted of drug trafficking.
But, due to her very limited criminal history, she was given a suspended jail sentence of two years and ordered to serve 150 hours of community service.
ZERAK MSTAFA MAGDED
This “standard street-level” drug peddler was found near an intersection in Ridleyton holding a plastic bag of meth and an imitation Beretta handgun.
Zerak Mstafa Magded, 27, was so high on drugs police were unable to interview him until the next day, when he told officers he could not remember what happened or where he had been the night before.
The young father also said he couldn’t remember how he came to be in possession of the gun and the plastic bag, containing 8.38g of methamphetamine.
Police seized Magded’s phone and found messages “consistent with drug trafficking” in the days leading up to his arrest on October 2 last year.
Some messages showed Magded saying he would not sell drugs on credit and that he was trafficking “bags or half ounces”.
Police also found 50 tabs of buprenorphine – an opioid – in his possession, which he used for both personal use and selling.
Judge Simon Stretton described Magded as a “standard street-level drug trafficker” when he handed down a sentence of three years and nine months imprisonment.
Magded’s sentence was backdated to the time of his arrest and he received a non-parole period of 18 months.
The court heard Magded possessed the gun, which could not be fired, for self-protection in the course of his drug peddling.
SCOTT CHRISTOPHER BROOKS
A piece of paper and a notebook each containing handwritten drug “tick lists” were enough to bring about the downfall of Scott Christopher Brooks.
Police had been tipped off that Brooks, 34, was selling illicit drugs from his O’Sullivan Beach home and spotted him with another male under the veranda at the rear of his property.
When they swooped on April 27, 2019, officers found the other male in possession of a plastic bag containing methylamphetamine and a mobile phone.
The phone contained Facebook Messenger conversations consistent with him arranging to buy drugs from Brooks, who had written evidence of his drug dealing activities.
Police searched Brooks and found a plastic bag containing 2.44g of methylamphetamine worth about $600 to $800, $1105 cash in a wallet and a Samsung mobile phone.
The father of one and stepfather of two, who is already serving a 12-month sentence for traffic offences in 2017 and 2018, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking a controlled drug.
Chief Judge Michael Evans said the court had a responsibility to deliver sentences that reinforced general and personal deterrence with paramount consideration towards community protection.
“Drugs such as methylamphetamine are dangerous and the trafficking of them causes harm not only to individual users but to our society,” Chief Judge Evans said.
Brooks was jailed for two years, two months and 17 days with a 17-month non-parole period.
ANTHONY JAY FISHER
If the discovery of cannabis, MDMA and methamphetamine in Anthony Jay Fisher’s car was the beginning of his downfall, a whiteboard – stored in his mother’s shed – with the names of users who owed drug debts cemented his crash.
Life after Fisher’s car was stopped at Whyalla on March 26, 2018, was only going to get worse for the 36-year-old.
In the shed, police found 38 ice pipes, more meth and cannabis, and a Telly .177 calibre air rifle – enhanced with telescopic sight thanks to a man known only as “Jimmy the Gunsmith”. A Lithgow bolt action .303 calibre centrefire rifle and ammunition was also found.
Inside his bedroom, a USB stick containing several drug instruction manuals, including a guide for cooking amphetamine, was uncovered with more MDMA.
Fisher plead guilty to one count of trafficking cannabis, one count of trafficking MDMA and one count of possessing methylamphetamine. He also pleaded guilty to possessing the unregistered rifles without a firearms licence.
Judge Paul Muscat said text messages on Fisher’s phone clearly revealed he had been trafficking drugs since February 18, 2018.
He said the steelworker turned to illicit substances to deal with “various life crises”.
“Thereafter you took to selling drugs, which you have claimed you did to support your use of those drugs. However, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt from the evidence that you were selling cannabis and MDMA primarily to make money rather than to support your use of drugs,” he said.
“Drug-dealing had become your lifestyle for several months until your arrest.”
Fisher – who grew two cannabis plants in 2004 and stole a butter knife from a Whyalla hotel in 2010 – was sentenced to four years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of two years.
But Judge Muscat said Fisher’s good behaviour meant he could serve the sentence on home detention.
“(This decision is) based on a combination of your demonstrated rehabilitation over a lengthy period, during which you have not offended, your continued commitment to remain drug-free, your current employment situation, together with your guilty pleas and lack of history of serious offences,” he said.
ROBIN JOHNATHON PERKS
In October 1989, Robin Johnathon Perks, then 11, and his mother were among 78 people injured in a crash between two buses on the O-Bahn.
The incident caused him ongoing back pain and he turned to cannabis to manage the discomfort.
Perks, a father of three and business owner, said he was later approached by someone he knew who suggested establishing a cannabis operation.
He conceded he was motivated by financial gain but his enterprise was busted by police in June 2019, when officers raided his semirural One Tree Hill property.
In one shed they found 5.32kg of dried cannabis valued at between $35,000 and $88,000, and $4000 cash, while in an another they discovered two grow rooms with 12 cannabis plants.
An electricity meter to the second shed was also found to have been bypassed. Perks, 42, pleaded guilty to trafficking in a large commercial quantity of cannabis, cultivating cannabis for sale, possessing prescribed equipment and diverting electricity.
Judge Stephen McEwen said Perks’ enterprise was significant and ongoing but noted he had realised “the enormity of his bad judgment” and the devastation brought upon himself and his family.
“I do accept what is emphasised in the various letters and materials … that (Perks) and his family are paying a heavy price for the very poor choices that he made,” Judge McEwen said.
“It is very unfortunate to see an otherwise good family man and contributing member of the community go to jail. Sentencing judges take no joy from it, but that is the law.”
Judge McEwen jailed Perks for two years, 11 months and one week and set a “merciful” non-parole period of 15 months.
“Drugs are a ubiquitous and serious problem in society. That is why Parliament treats drug production and distribution very seriously,” Judge McEwen said.
TYLER JAMES HARRY
Most drug dealers get into the trade to make money, but not Tyler James Harry.
He was an apprentice electrician with a privileged background who turned to pushing MDMA to give himself “a sense of purpose”.
Harry, 19, started trafficking drugs at school in Year 12 before he graduated on to peddling dangerous substances on Adelaide’s Hindley Street.
He was first caught on March 29, when police found him standing by his car in Clubhouse Lane, just off the popular party strip.
Officers searched his vehicle and discovered 20.71g of MDMA in capsule, crystal and powdered forms. His satchel bag contained electronic scales and more than $800 in cash.
Harry, who was 18 at the time, was placed on bail for this offence before he was caught dealing drugs again just two months later.
This time, a security guard at the Dog and Duck Hotel called police after finding drugs in Harry’s bag.
Officers seized more than 100 capsules of MDMA and some cocaine. They also found messages on his phone that related to drug trafficking during the four months prior.
Harry told a psychiatrist that he started selling drugs in his senior year at school, because “it gave him a sense of direction, a sense of purpose and feelings of worth in sourcing drugs for people”.
Judge Stephen McEwen said Harry was two years into an apprenticeship as an electrician and had a “somewhat privileged background”.
He handed Harry a prison sentence of two years, four months, three weeks and three days, with a non-parole period of 12 months.
“This is a very young man going to jail – there is always some room for an appropriate degree of mercy,” Judge McEwen said.
“He is a very young man with a supportive family and excellent prospects for rehabilitation”.
CHRISTOPHER JOHN RINALDI
A fortunate upbringing with the love of supportive parents was not enough to stop Christopher John Rinaldi from spiralling into a serious drug addiction.
By the time he was 25 years old, Rinaldi’s drug use had escalated to such a level that he became an unreliable worker and his father stopped employing him.
Police in August 2018 found Rinaldi in possession of 5.12g of a substance containing 3.41g of methylamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and $2000 cash in $50 notes.
He was released on home detention bail but, seven months later, removed his monitoring bracelet in and in April 2019 was found with 6.98g of a substance containing 5.3g of meth.
Rinaldi, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking a controlled drug and admitted he had turned to drug dealing to support his serious addiction.
Judge Michael Boylan said Rinaldi had been evicted from his rental home and was either couch surfing or sleeping in the storage facility where he kept his furniture.
“Your drug history is a sadly typical one. You began using methylamphetamine socially with friends but eventually became addicted,” Judge Boylan said.
“You gave up associating with people who would have been a positive influence upon you and spent your time with other drug users. You became isolated and your life fell apart.”
Judge Boylan said Rinaldi had led a blameless life until his drug addiction took hold of him.
“Methylamphetamine is causing increasing harm in our community, damaging the lives of many,” Judge Boylan said.
“You have now seen what your addiction to the drug has done to you and to your family. By dealing in the drug you have caused similar pain and suffering to the lives of others.”
Judge Boylan jailed Rinaldi for six years with a three-year non-parole period. He said the offending was too serious to suspend the sentence or order it be served on home detention.
“If upon your release you take steps which (the psychologist) has recommended I think you may yet lead a law-abiding and productive life,” Judge Boylan said.
STEVEN MARK MCLAY
A rocky upbringing and an emotionally unstable mind was Steven Mark McLay’s undoing.
The Nailsworth man, 29, was found in possession of 13.4g of methamphetamine, two sets of electronic scales, two ice pipes, digital scales, a suspected drug tick list notebook, and a wallet containing $2770 cash in October 2019.
Judge Simon Stretton said a psychological report described McLay as an unstable person who struggles to deal with life’s stresses, and resorts to drugs to cope.
He outlined trauma in McLay’s upbringing, including serious events of domestic violence involving his mother and father. Judge Stretton mentioned the defendant's disrupted education due to his behavioural problems and violence.
“This is a serious offence,” Judge Stretton told McLay.
“Very often, those who become addicted become violent, commit a range of violent offences or turn to dealing or turn to dishonesty offending to support their addiction.
“It is for these reasons, and many others, that the court takes all trafficking, including street-level dealing, so seriously.”
McLay pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking a controlled drug.
He was sentenced to three years, two months and 13 days with a non-parole period of 18 months.
“You are at a turning point and that shorter than usual non-parole period will assist you to get back on your feet quicker and have an extended period of supervision to help you and support you,” Judge Stretton said.
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