Jase Colin Smith sentenced in court for trafficking dangerous drugs
At 12 he was homeless and addicted to marijuana, by 18 he was a meth addict and now this Central Queensland man is behind bars for trafficking dangerous drugs.
Police & Courts
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A Biloela drug dealer continues to smoke half an ounce of marijuana every week after growing up in a house that was plagued with drug use and becoming addicted at 12 years old, a court has been told.
The 27 year old was sentenced in the Rockhampton Supreme Court to three years prison for selling marijuana and methamphetamine to no fewer than 19 customers over about six months.
Jase Colin Smith pleaded guilty on August 26 to three counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one count each of trafficking dangerous drugs, possessing utensils or pipes that had been used and possessing anything used in the commission of a crime defined in part 2.
Justice Graeme Crow said Smith ran a business trafficking methamphetamine and marijuana in Biloela for about six months between September 26, 2019 until his arrest on April 10, 2020.
Justice Crow said Smith was a “low level trafficker” that dealt primarily with street level quantities.
He said Smith had no fewer than 19 customers and supplied marijuana on 44 occasions and meth on 10 occasions.
He said Smith sold 4.2g of meth for $1160 and 124g of marijuana for $910.
“You regularly sourced drugs to fulfil the requests of your customers,” he said.
Smith’s offending was revealed after police executed a search warrant at the address of some of his customers on March 16, 2020 and, through an examination of two mobile phones, found he was using Facebook Messenger and SMS messaging to supply dangerous drugs.
Smith attended Biloela Police Station on April 10, 2020 and told police he had purchased marijuana for a number of people and that people had harassed him for drugs.
He attended Biloela Police Station again on May 1 for questioning and was searched and found in possession of 0.4g of meth.
The court heard he was also searched by police on February 6, 2020 after he was caught riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road on Cania Street, Biloela, and found in possession of 0.6g of meth, 2g of marijuana and a set of electronic scales, which were seized.
Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips said, according to a psychologist report, Smith smoked half an ounce of marijuana every week.
“This man is still using about half an ounce of marijuana a week according to this report,” Mr Phillips said.
Barrister Tom Polley said his client, who had a seven-page criminal history, was not hiding that he still used marijuana but added that he no longer used meth.
“Both of these drugs have plagued him his entire life,” Mr Polley said.
He said his client used marijuana from the age of 12 and meth from the age of 18.
He said his client was exposed to drugs in his home before he was 12 years old and left home at the age of 12 and was homeless.
“He has lived an itinerant lifestyle up until this year, from the age of 12,” he said.
“These are things that have made him who he is.”
He said in the past four months his client had moved away from Biloela to live with his mother in South East Queensland and had found a job.
“He is attempting rehabilitation for the first time in his life, for the second time in his life he has employment and for the first time in his life he has some sort of stable accommodation with his family,” he said.
Mr Phillips argued that moving away from Biloela had not stopped his ability to access marijuana.
“He may have moved but the Brisbane area is not a haven free from drugs,” he said.
Justice Crow told Smith he had the ability to overcome his problems.
“You know what you did is wrong, and you know taking drugs will be the end of you,” he said.
“There is a way forward and that is to continue along the path of getting away from meth and ridding yourself of the use of marijuana.
“If you achieve that there is no reason why you can’t have a long happy life in the community and be a good father for your son.”
Smith was sentenced to prison for three years with a parole release date of November 25.
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