Eli James Rosenberg narrowly avoids jail after facing Toowoomba Supreme Court on series of drug possession charges

A Hatton Vale teenager was caught in possession of a $6000 ‘pharmacy of illicit substances’ after police stopped him entering the Warrego Highway the wrong way.

A Hatton Vale teenager was lucky to avoid serving time behind bars after a judge gave him a spray for “morally reprehensible behaviour” that saw his family home raided by police as a result of his drug addiction.

Eli James Rosenberg’s trouble with the law began on January 5, 2021 when the then 19-year-old faced court for possessing a small quantity of ketamine, Toowoomba Supreme Court was told.

However, Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said the fine was no deterrent when the following month on February 4 police stopped Rosenberg about 2.25am when he attempted to get on the Warrego Highway on the wrong side of the road.

After the vehicle was stopped police found Rosenberg and two teenage passengers, with one of them unrestrained in the back seat of his ute.

The court was told a search of the vehicle uncovered a large quantity of drugs, including magic mushrooms, 16g of DMT, 23g of cannabis and Xanax, with 12g of cocaine found hidden in Rosenberg’s underpants.

Ms Friedewald said Rosenberg initially gave a “self-serving” statement to police before admitting he had paid $6000 for the drugs earlier that night and intended to use them at a party the group were going to.

Eli James Rosenberg was convicted in Toowoomba Supreme Court on June 3, 2022 of six counts of possessing a dangerous drug.

Less than three weeks later and while on bail for the offences the court was told Rosenberg was once again stopped by police on the Warrego Highway on February 21 where a search of the same vehicle revealed magic mushrooms and a small quantity of methylamphetamine.

The court was told police then conducted a search on Rosenberg’s parents home where he was living and a number of drug related items were found, including about 1g of cannabis, a grinder and water pipe.

In Toowoomba Supreme Court on Friday the now 20-year-old pleaded guilty to six charges of possessing dangerous drugs.

Rosenberg’s barrister Kevin Kelso said his client was a student of St Mary’s College Toowoomba but after falling in with a “bad crowd” began smoking cannabis at age 14 and by Year 10 was expelled.

The court was told he finished high school at Highfields State School, and was “extremely intelligent”.

Justice Martin Burns took a different view to the submission.

“He can’t be that bright if he keeps committing these offences while on bail,” he said.

The court was told after leaving school Rosenberg worked for an electrical subcontractor laying cable on Stradbroke Island until he was let go at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and from October 2020 Rosenberg had worked for 12 months at Crows Nest Soft Drink, a business partly owned by his parents, but his father had to sack him as a result of his drug addiction.

Now working at a bottle shop, Mr Kelso said Rosenberg’s family had taken the decision to put their son to work, rather than seek live-in rehabilitation.

“That’s just a myth that hard work cures addiction,” Justice Burns said.

Justice Burns said after being caught in possession of a “pharmacy of illicit substances”, Rosenberg’s actions were not only examples of serious criminal offending but also “morally reprehensible behaviour.

“You’ve put your parents and sisters through the ringer, you’ve exposed your family home where you were brought up to police running through the home searching for drugs,” Justice Burns said.

“Can you imagine the effect that had on your parents. They’re supporting you, and you need to start paying some of that love and support back.”

Rosenberg was convicted and sentenced to three years probation.

Justice Burns warned that if Rosenberg failed to abide by his probation conditions, which included random drug tests, he would be given no choice but to impose a harsher penalty.

“They tell me you’re bright but tell me how you think that will go if you go back into drug use after today and come back before me, I’d have to conclude that the probation order has not worked, what’s the other option?”

“Jail,” Rosenberg said.

Originally published as Eli James Rosenberg narrowly avoids jail after facing Toowoomba Supreme Court on series of drug possession charges