John Nicky Tedesco faces sentencing submissions over 90g of cocaine, $450k cash, found in his garage and vintage Corvette

A routine traffic stop went from bad to worse for this SA man, as police found numerous hidden caches of drugs and bundles of cash – some in his prized vintage Corvette.

Life was less than ideal for John Nicky Tedesco before SA Police pulled him over at Thebarton in July 2020.

Amid both a midlife crisis and an extramarital affair, his lover’s habits had pulled him back into the world of illicit drugs from which he had previously escaped.

That descent came hot on the heels of his time as one of the first investors in an infamous and unsuccessful $1.3 million Ponzi scheme.

But life was about to get worse for Tedesco, whom police had seen talking on his phone while driving across the intersection of Port Road and James Congdon Drive.

John Nicky Tedesco outside the District Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Officers first noticed the axe handle in his car, then a bundle of $28,300 in cash sticking out of a jumper on the passenger seat.

Asked to step out of the car, Tedesco dropped two sealed bags into a gutter – police snatched them up before they washed away, finding 3g of methamphetamine inside.

As bad as Tedesco’s life was at that moment, it went to pieces when officers searched the garage of his Cheltenham home.

Behind the skirting boards, they found secret compartments containing 100g of heroin, 50mL of fantasy, 10g of methamphetamine and $7000 worth of cannabis.

The packets of methamphetamine dropped, by Tedesco, during his arrest. Picture: SA Police

Those compartments also contained 10 bundles of cash adding up to an eye-watering $447,080.

But the biggest prize was hidden in the bumper of Tedesco’s prized vintage Corvette Stingray – 98.1g of cocaine worth approximately $34,400.

This week, defence barrister Andrew Moffa told the District Court that, despite Tedesco’s guilty pleas, the bundles of cash remained “the big issue” in sentencing his client.

“Old Italians prefer cash,” he said.

Judge Rauf Soulio said he had difficulty with that submission.

“There are a lot of big issues in this matter, Mr Moffa … more than 90g of cocaine, for instance, is a big issue,” he said.

“And I would not regard Tedesco as old.”

Bundles of cash recovered from Tedesco’s home. Picture: SA Police

‘PROFIT-DRIVEN’

Tedesco, 57, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in a controlled drug and one count of money laundering.

During sentencing submissions this week, the court heard those pleas related to the cocaine, cannabis and cash – the other drugs are no longer the subject of charges.

Taryn Amos, prosecuting, asked an immediate prison term be imposed, saying both the amount of drugs and Tedesco’s own criminal history warranted such a course.

“Concerningly, Tedesco was sentenced in 2008 for drug offending, then sentenced again in 2020 for drug offending, and now is to be sentenced again for drug offending,” she said.

“Despite having received custodial penalties, he has not distanced himself from drugs and drug use but gone back to even more serious offending.”

Tedesco had secreted drugs and cash behind the skirting boards of his garage. Picture: SAPOL

She said officers had also found scales and numerous tick lists, containing prices for drugs, in Tedesco’s garage.

“There is also an audio recording of Tedesco saying he would sell the cocaine for $400 per gram or $600 per ‘half-ball’,” she said.

“This is offending at the higher end of the range of seriousness – purely profit-driven drug-dealing, the substantial commerciality of the mid-order drug dealer.”

Ms Amos said Tedesco had gained little insight into his offending during his two years on strict home detention bail.

“He told a psychologist ‘it was really low-grade cocaine for personal use, it shouldn’t be a big deal’, but he has pleaded guilty to trafficking,” she said.

“He also claimed the money was ‘being held for someone else’, which we do not accept.”

Tedesco has blamed his offending on a midlife crisis and an affair, but the court heard his wife still supports him. Picture: NCA NewsWire

‘EMBARRASSING’

Mr Moffa said his client had spoken truthfully to the psychologist about both the cash and the drugs.

“The cocaine was only 20 per cent pure, which is consistent with lower, ‘street-level’ cocaine,” he said.

“The $28,300 was his own cash while the $450,000 related to money that had been invested in and activities arising from Michael Samra’s Ponzi scheme.”

In 2017, Samra – a failed businessman – was jailed for eight years, with a 4 ½-year non-parole period, for swindling $1.3 million from his investors.

“Tedesco was an early investor in that scheme, which promised a 48 per cent return on investments, and that’s where the $450,000 came from,” Mr Moffa said.

“Approximately 50 per cent of it was my client’s money that he had invested, the other 50 per cent belonged to a third party.”

Tedesco claims much of the cash in his possession came from a failed $1.3m Ponzi scheme run by corrupt businessman Michael Samra. Picture: NCA NewsWire

He said his client’s return to drugs was “embarrassing from his perspective”.

“He had a midlife crisis, there was an affair in which he had involved himself which had been completely secret, and she (the other woman) was a drug user,” he said.

“This was against the background of a 37-year marriage that is still there and still strong … the support of his wife is still there to this day.”

Judge Soulio said he was not prepared to accept those submissions without hearing from Tedesco himself, and remanded him on continuing bail until next month.

“I will have to hear evidence from him, under oath, if I’m to be persuaded to place any reliance on this for sentencing,” he said.

“But, having regard to the seriousness of the offences, Tedesco will need to be realistic about the outcome.”