Jaleila Peters pleads guilty at Gympie, Qld to trafficking marijuana
A young Qld mother has landed in hot water after putting her business skills to illegal use in an effort to stay afloat amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Police & Courts
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A young Gympie mother has landed in hot water for trying to deal with the cost of living crisis by putting her business skills to illegal use by trafficking marijuana.
Jaleila Peters started running the marijuana dealing operation in January 2024 when she was 19 years old, Crown Prosecutor Katrina Overell said on Friday.
The 20-year-old ran the business through text messages, Snapchat, and by phone and was “conducting (it) behind her father’s back”.
“She kept notes in her phone, she offered credit, and kept notes on money owed, and she generally opted for cash upfront” Ms Overell told Gympie District Court.
She was arrested by police at her family’s Jones Hill home on August 8, 2024.
Judge Bernard Porter said the police search and arrest at the house must have come as a “hell of a shock” to her father.
Officers found about 234g of marijuana “throughout the house”.
A total of $340 in cash, which was proceeds from Peters’ “Street level” business, was also found, the court heard.
She was selling “small amounts of up to an ounce (28g) at a time” and making about $530 profit on each 225g sold, the court was told.
Ms Overell said Peters carried out the business with the money she made going towards her living expenses, and resupplying.
The court heard she had no previous criminal history.
Peters’ defence barrister told the court the 20-year-old had been unemployed, unable to find a job for years, and needed money.
She was pregnant at the time she was running her operation and now the mother of a young child, the court heard.
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Judge Porter said it was clear Peters “can organise herself pretty well” but unfortunately she chose to put her skills to work in an illegal way, he said.
“You seemed to do a good job, frankly – which is not meant to be a compliment in respect of this offence,” Judge Porter said.
“You didn’t have a job, you didn’t have any money, you came up with a plan and did something about it and frankly, you organised it pretty well.
“I don’t think you should be saying to yourself ‘I’m hopeless, I can’t do things’ … you should say to yourself ‘I’m someone who can do this, I just shouldn’t be doing it like this’”.
Peters pleaded guilty to trafficking dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing items used in the commission of a crime, receiving property obtained by drug trafficking, and possessing drug utensils.
She was sentenced to two years’ jail with the sentence wholly suspended for two years, and immediate parole.
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