Gladstone drug user Kaleb Edward Cotton, 23, trafficked LSD, cannabis

A drug-addicted trafficker supplied multiple people with LSD and cannabis but it was an athletic move which proved his undoing. See how a backflip alerted police to his dealings.

Kaleb Edward Cotton, 23, supplied 35 customers in the Gladstone region with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and cannabis.

A Central Queensland drug trafficker has told a court he still hasn’t kicked his drug habit 14 months after being busted.

Kaleb Edward Cotton, 23, supplied 35 customers in the Gladstone region with Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and cannabis during a 3.5-month trafficking period in 2021.

Defence barrister Maree Willey told the Supreme Court in Rockhampton on Wednesday, March 1 Cotton had been living with drug users and in a toxic relationship with a drug user at the time he was trafficking drugs.

She said he was also unemployed and trafficked to support his own marijuana drug habit which he has managed to reduce but not completely quit before his sentencing.

Kaleb Edward Cotton, 23, has faced court over drug trafficking.

Cotton pleaded guilty to one count each of trafficking, producing dangerous drugs, possessing drugs and three other drug related offences.

Justice Graeme Crow said police witnessed a male leave a Gladstone nightclub on December 12, 2021, and do a backflip.

During this backflip a clipseal bag containing many LSD capsules fell out of his pocket.

Police conducted a search and found the male’s phone which contained Facebook Messenger messages between him and Cotton about drug sales.

Five days later, police searched Cotton’s residence and located three marijuana plants weighing one gram each after the roots were removed, along with seven clipseal bags of marijuana each weighing three grams each plus a glass jar containing 0.97g of marijuana.

Cotton’s phone revealed the extent of his trafficking business which included 45 supplies – 30 of marijuana and 15 of LSD.

Ms Willey said since his arrest, Cotton had moved in with a friend who did not use drugs, ended the toxic relationship and has been in his current relationship for six months.

She said he was doing a traineeship to become a sea and land ranger with Gidarjil Development Corporation.

Kaleb Edward Cotton, 23, trafficked LSD and cannabis.

Cotton has also obtained his learner’s driving permit and clocked up enough hours to sit for his provisional licence.

Justice Crow said while Cotton’s cannabis use still concerned him, he was satisfied Cotton had made excellent rehabilitation efforts and gained employment.

Cotton’s criminal record had one entry for possessing a small amount of marijuana for which a Gladstone magistrate, in December 2020, placed him on a good behaviour bond and ordered to undertake a drug diversion program

He sentenced Cotton to three years in prison with immediate parole.