Jason Trevor Daniel and Crystal Lee Pannell sentenced for drug trafficking

Expensive cars and other toys laid the trail that led police to their lucrative operation, but it was a secret tip-off that really sealed their fate. Read the full story.

A Bundaberg couple was living the high life, acquiring cars and a caravan well beyond their means, thanks to a lucrative meth dealing operation.

But their offending began to be exposed when one of their customers was stopped by police after leaving the $52,000 caravan which had been purchased to provide a location to sell drugs.

Jason Trevor Daniel, 41, and Crystal Lee Pannell, 29, were sentenced together for trafficking dangerous drugs, along with other offences, when they faced Maryborough Supreme Court on Monday.

Daniel also pleaded guilty to possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of an offence under the Drugs Misuse Act and one charge of possession of property suspected of being acquired from proceeds of an offence under the Drugs Misuse Act. Pannell, a mother of two, pleaded guilty to possessing property suspected of being acquired from proceeds of an offence under the Drugs Misuse Act.

Daniel and Pannell had been in a de facto relationship, the court heard, with Daniel the principal offender when it came to the drug dealing operation.

His offending began just a month after he was sentenced to three years in prison (and released immediately on parole) on another trafficking charge, the court was told, and would continue to six months until he was taken into custody.

Not only had his offending been committed while he was on parole, but also while he was on bail, the court was told.

The court heard Daniel would also sometimes supply drugs to Pannell’s mother.

Daniel would make regular trips from Bundaberg to the Gold Coast to get drugs from his supplier, the court was told.

He would supply meth to customers on a daily basis and occasionally multiple times a day, both at street level quantities and wholesale quantities.

He had a customer base of at least 15 people, including Pannell’s mother.

Occasionally he refused to supply to her with more drugs until she paid her debt, the court was told.

In January 2021, Daniel made arrangements to purchase a caravan for $52,000

He then told his supplier he was buying the caravan with “dirty money”.

Daniel then arranged for Pannell to deposit $52,000 in cash into a bank account, which she did.

Later that day he collected the caravan and took it to an address in Alloway.

He would often arrange with customers to meet at the caravan for drug deals to reduce the number of customers visiting their home.

On February 3, 2021, one of his customers was stopped by police in his car leaving the property and found to be in possession of .1 of a gram of meth.

Daniel was charged by police for drug offences later that month and released on bail.

But he continued to supply to customers, even after coming to police attention.

When a customer messaged him asking for drugs, he responded “yes bro, but come on man, watch what you’re sending please,” suggesting he should be careful about sending drug-related terms while messaging while he was on bail.

The court heard Pannell helped Daniel with his trafficking business, including driving to the Gold Coast to collect meth when his licence was suspended and he was expecting a visit from the parole board.

On another occasion, she helped deliver meth to customers when Daniel wasn’t available.

She often transported money and drugs between her mother and Daniel, the court heard.

Justice Graeme Crow said it was unknown how much profit the two had made.

Jason Trevor Daniel, 41, and Crystal Lee Pannell were both sentenced for trafficking dangerous drugs, along with other offences, when they faced Maryborough Supreme Court on Monday, August 15, 2022.

But he said the two had accumulated a large amount of unexplained assets and wealth, with Daniel the registered owner of a 2017 Audi sedan worth about $30,000 and Pannell the owner of a 2018 Nissan Navara worth about $38,000 and a 2015 Mazda 6 valued at about $20,000.

At the time of the offending, Daniel’s taxable income was less than $25,000 and Pannell was acting as a carer for her mother’s children, including her brother who had cerebral palsy.

On January 31, Daniel was stopped by police and tested positive for meth and was charged with drug driving.

On February 9, 2021, police executed a search warrant where they located Daniel at the caravan, where he declared he had drugs and money.

He was found in possession of meth, cannabis, MDMA, GHP as well as restricted tablets and more than $9000 in cash.

Daniel was released on bail but continued to offend.

On February 24, 2021, police became aware that he was preparing to transport a large amount of meth from the Gold Coast to Bundaberg the following day.

At 6am the next day, Daniel was stopped by police in his Audi on the Bruce Highway near Childers.

Another man was driving.

Police searched the car and found a gram of meth and a glass smoking pipe.

Daniel was charged, but police were far from done searching the vehicle.

There were several searches of the car, eventually getting a tip-off from another source.

The police removed a section of the carpet lining which enabled access to a back panel in the boot.

Police found a sock in the panel that contained three separate amounts of white crystal substance, adding up to more than 56 grams.

The court heard Daniel, who was raised in Gympie, had been a hard worker and a contributing member of society until a series of tragedies impacted his life and he turned to drug use.

That included the death of his 16-year-old son, Brock Daniel, in 2020.

Daniel had spent 523 days in custody, Justice Crow said, and he had been a “model prisoner” while behind bars.

Daniel was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, to be served cumulatively to the three years he had been sentenced to for his trafficking conviction in August, 2020.

For the drug driving offence, Daniel was disqualified from driving for six months.

Justice Crow said Pannell’s offending was serious but not the same level of criminality as Daniel’s.

He said her mother was “severely addicted” to drugs, but Pannell appeared to have avoided that.

Justice Crow said he had received letters and references describing Pannell as trustworthy and a good mother.

Pannell had suffered as a child, being sexually abused by one of her mother’s partners, the court heard.

She had been an “unwilling participant” caught up in a family situation, the court was told.

Pannell was now caring for her children and her siblings, the court heard.

She was sentenced to three years in prison but was released immediately on parole.