SA drug dealer Jessie Sam Anderson pleads guilty but says he can’t be punished for client’s death

His mate overdosed on the drugs he sold, but this dealer says he can’t be punished for that – because the dead man chose to take the pills.

A drug dealer whose friend overdosed on his product says he can only be punished for selling drugs, not for the fatal consequences of his business.

On Thursday, Jessie Sam Anderson asked the District Court to sentence him to home detention for selling 975 fake Xanax tablets and 48 tabs of LSD.

Samuel McDonough, for Anderson, said his client was “racked with guilt” over the death of Brandon Richards – whose mother is a lifelong drug and alcohol counsellor.

However, he said Mr Richards’ death could not play a part in Anderson’s sentencing because, legally, there was a “break in causation”.

Jessie Sam Anderson. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

“Anderson’s offending is supplying the drug – what Mr Richards did with that drug cannot then be put back on Anderson,” he said.

“Mr Richards did not undergo an autopsy but a toxicology report shows two other drugs were in his system.

“This court would have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the fake Xanax caused Mr Richards’ death … without a post-mortem, it cannot be.”

Anderson, 25, of Ascot Park, pleaded guilty to trafficking in a commercial quantity of LSD and a large commercial quantity of highly addictive drug Clonazolam, labelled as Xanax.

He also pleaded guilty to supplying or administering a drug to another person.

Anderson sold the drugs, worth $9750, in lots of five, 10 or 20 pills, and advertised his illegal business online with a sign listing his “opening hours”.

The Clonazolam had been pressed into bars and falsely labelled as Xanax. Picture: Supplied

Mr Richards, 22, died in his Woodcroft home in May. On Thursday, his mother Sonya Turner’s victim impact statement was read in court.

She said she had changed jobs since the tragedy, unable to go on supporting people “who wish to take drugs” as she had done her entire life.

“Brandon unfortunately made the mistake of trying a substance that took his life without a second chance,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter how well you raise your children, it just takes one person to ruin what you have worked so hard for … my heart breaks every day.”

Mr McDonough said Anderson was a “subsistence dealer” who sold drugs “to pay for rent and groceries, not a comfortable and luxurious lifestyle”.

But Laura Kelly, prosecuting, said that in no way mitigated the seriousness of his offending.

“He supplied drugs to another person, that person was Mr Richards, he subsequently died and toxicology reports show a high level of Clonazolam,” she said.

“This illustrates the dangers associated with the supply of controlled drugs.”

Chief Judge Michael Evans remanded Anderson on bail for sentencing next month.