Brassall’s Kassandra Devene, 30, faces Ipswich Court, guilty of trafficking cannabis
An Ipswich drug trafficker told a court she was committed to changing her ways – after police busted her boasting about her profit margins on encrypted messaging apps.
Police & Courts
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An Ipswich woman has faced court after police busted her street-level cannabis trafficking scheme which spanned a year and involved encrypted apps to cover her tracks.
Brassall’s Kassandra Devene, 30, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on January 29 to one count of trafficking cannabis.
The court heard Devene trafficked the drug between January 29, 2021 and May 20, 2022 in Ipswich.
Crown prosecutor Andreas Galloway said Devene trafficked to 12 customers on 31 occasions throughout the 15-and-a-half month period.
She supplied street-level quantities of 3g to 28g (an ounce), the court heard.
Mr Galloway said Devene had used encrypted messaging apps to avoid detection.
Police searched her home in May 2022 and seized her phone.
Mr Galloway said police uncovered messages in which Devene would “boast to others about her profit margins”.
He acknowledged she had just one entry on her criminal history, which he said was “limited and irrelevant”.
Defence barrister Sarah Cartledge said her client had a difficult upbringing and had been introduced to cannabis in her early 20s.
“She was of course drug-addicted at the time,” Ms Cartledge said.
But she said Devene had maintained stable employment for the past four years.
The court heard Devene had also sought mental health help and drug rehabilitation since the offending.
Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren warned Devene that drug trafficking “affects many lives”.
“Someone provided you with drugs in your early twenties and within a period of less than a decade you find yourself here as a convicted drug trafficker,” he said.
“That’s why the community denounces it so much.”
But given the steps Devene had already taken towards rehabilitation, Judge Horneman-Wren decided a period of actual jail would not be necessary.
He sentenced her to two years’ jail with immediate parole.
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