Mele Lineti Sanipepa Cross in court for drug trafficking

A Burnett mother of three was collecting Centrelink payments while selling meth to about 40 regular clients across the Wide Bay and Burnett.

Mele Lineti Sanipepa Cross pleaded guilty in the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Tuesday to four charges, including drug trafficking and theft.

A Mundubbera mum has avoided jail time in being sentenced for trafficking drugs in the Burnett to at least 40 regular clients.

Mele Lineti Sanipepa Cross pleaded guilty in the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Tuesday to four charges, including drug trafficking and theft.

The court heard the 30-year-old had a three-page criminal history, and spent 14 months dealing drugs in her hometown of Mundubbera between 2020 and 2021, where she had more than 40 regular clients.

Justice Graeme Crow said Cross’ true revenue during this period was difficult to calculate, however police estimated more than $100,000 was turned over for her “predominantly street level” activities.

Cross also claimed more than $60,000 a year from Centrelink as a sole parent.

She was on bail for previous drug charges when police executed a search warrant on September 9, 2021 on the home she shared with her husband and three children.

Through their investigations police determined Cross had a number of regular clients in what Justice Crow called “not a sophisticated enterprise”.

The court also heard Cross in September of 2021 had failed to return a rental car in due time, and also used the vehicle to steal more than $80 worth of fuel from a Deception Bay service station.

Mele Lineti Sanipepa Cross pleaded guilty in the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Tuesday to four charges, including drug trafficking and theft.

Barrister Joseph Briggs told the court numerous personal tragedies had contributed to Cross’ initial fall into drugs.

Mr Briggs told the court the first tragedy was when Cross was a young child and her two older brothers died in a hit and run. In the aftermath, she was sent to live interstate with other family before returning to Queensland in the early 2010s.

Cross was then living with family in Slacks Creek in 2011 in the very home that burnt down and claimed 11 lives, all of which were Cross family members.

Mr Briggs said the tragedy greatly impacted Cross, who suffered from “survivor’s guilt” following the loss of her family.

This fuelled her turn to recreational drugs during her time at university, which would begin a lifetime drug abuse habit.

Justice Crow said Cross’s sentence had “troubled” him, and he accepted submissions Cross had shown a “high prospect of rehabilitation” during her probation period.

For the charge of trafficking Cross was sentenced to five years imprisonment, wholly suspended, and conviction recorded. She was not further punished on the remaining three charges.