Alyce Maree Burgess pleads guilty to drug trafficking in Gympie
A woman jailed for being linked to the murder of Amamoor man Michael Zanco in 2020 has been imprisoned again for running a drug trafficking operation worth more than $90,000.
Police & Courts
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A woman jailed for being linked to the murder of Amamoor man Michael Zanco in 2020 has been imprisoned again for running a “street level” drug trafficking operation.
Alyce Maree Burgess faced the Brisbane Supreme Court over the string of deals made across an eight-month period which brought in more than $91,000 for the 33-year-old.
Published Queensland Supreme Court sentencing remarks Burgess’ criminal history included meth possession, and in 2020 she was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to an offence of grievous bodily harm in the death of Michael Zanco.
The document revealed Burgess’s trafficking was caught when police searched another person’s home on June 29, 2023.
She lived two doors down the road but was at the property when officers arrived, the document said.
Police found MDMA, meth and a taser in her handbag and a disassembled 12 gauge shotgun and ammunition on the ground next to her.
Officers were able to gain access to her phone despite her refusal to hand the PIN over.
They found proof of Burgess trafficking meth and marijuana between November 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023 on the device, the document said.
She received $91,463 through bank transfers from 81 customers, with these transactions happening “on a daily basis”.
It was a “street level” operation, including 61 meth deals of “a point up to a quarter of an ounce” made to 28 customers.
Text messages showed 15 marijuana deals to seven customers, with the largest quantity sold being 28g.
Deals for pseudoephedrine and GHB were also recorded, the court heard.
Justice Helen Bowskill said Burgess’s trafficking was to fund her own drug needs as there was “no evidence … you were living a flash lifestyle with all this money floating around”.
“It obviously was just going in one bank account and out for you to buy drugs,” Justice Bowskill said.
Burgess pleaded guilty to her charge over Mr Zanco’s death in January 2022 and was sentenced to three years’ jail with immediate parole.
Mr Zanco, 22, died after being shot in the head with a sawn-off rifle during a violent home invasion at Amamoor in March 2020.
Nathan John Caulfield, 36, Trent Edward Dyhrberg, 36, and Kalabe John Steven Saurine, 22, were found guilty of his murder following a three-week trial in 2023.
All three were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The 33-year-old initially engaged with her parole requirements but “fell off track” after nine months, the document said.
She had been living with her mother and working, but got caught up with “the wrong people” when this support network vanished.
“But you did not just go back to using drugs, you then got involved in selling them in quite an intense way,” Justice Helen Bowskill said.
The document said Burgess had been working in the laundry and reception area while in custody, and volunteered for the Lions Club.
She planned to leave Gympie to escape “bad influences”.
The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs, nine counts of supplying drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing a weapon, and failing to provide the PIN to her phone to police.
She was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ jail and ordered to spend six months behind bars before becoming eligible for parole on November 26, 2025.
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