NAMED: A list of Townsville drug dealers
From dealers who claimed to have sold salt instead of meth to suppliers being busted dealing to cops, the Townsville Bulletin has ousted a number of suppliers who went through court last year. Here’s some of the most shocking cases.
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From dealers who claimed to have sold salt instead of meth to suppliers being busted dealing to cops, the Townsville Bulletin has ousted a number of suppliers who were found guilty in court last year.
Here are some of the most shocking cases.
Trafficker claims she sold ‘rock salt’ not meth
A Townsville woman claims she should never have been jailed for drug trafficking because she only ever sold rock salt to customers.
Candice Bo Allen was sentenced to four and a half years’ jail after pleading guilty to drug trafficking in Townsville between October 2016 and April 2017.
Court documents revealed Allen, who was representing herself, told the sentencing judge in December 2018 that she never onsold methylamphetamine.
She would keep the drugs and the money to feed her own ice addiction, then deliver rock salt to her customers, the Townsville court was told.
Pregnant mum traffics, supplies
A pregnant woman was jailed for trafficking cannabis in a bid to make easy money to cope with the financial strains of being a single mother.
Samantha Jane Kelliher pleaded guilty to trafficking dangerous drugs, seven separate charges of supplying cannabis and related drug offences when she faced Townsville Supreme Court in January 2019.
Kelliher’s property was raided by police in July 2017 after phone intercepts targeted at another person revealed her to be involved in the acquisition and sale of large quantities of cannabis.
Ex-firefighter guilty of drug supply
Trauma experienced as a firefighter has been labelled as an explanation for a man’s fall from grace into the drug trade.
Dylan James Rush, 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying dangerous drugs, related offences and two counts of stealing when he faced Townsville District Court in August 2019.
Defence barrister Travis Schmitt said Rush had experienced mental health problems, which were strongly linked to the circumstances that brought him before the court.
Cancer survivor deals drugs
A man who lost his right testicle to cancer and eventually beat the illness disappointed a Townsville judge by not appreciating his second chance at life.
Josh Michael Chapman, 35, was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to one count each of possessing and supplying a dangerous drug when he faced Townsville District Court in June 2019.
The court heard police had intercepted a phone call between Chapman and a known Townsville drug dealer on July 4, 2017.
Chapman was trying to purchase 3.5g of methylamphetamine to supply to his cousin. Police then searched Chapman’s home on August 28, 2017, where they found 2g of cannabis.
Dealer given second chance
A cannabis dealer has been given a chance to get his life on the “straight and narrow” after he was inadvertently caught out.
Ethan Thomas McCollum appeared in Townsville District Court in March 2019, where he pleaded guilty to trafficking a dangerous drug and possessing an item used in the commission of a crime.
Police raided a house Mount Louisa in October 2017 by means of a search warrant in another persons’ name.
McCollum may not have been the target of the raid but he was at the house and officers seized a phone which was identified as belonging to the then 18-year-old.
Forensic analysis of the mobile phone revealed evidence of cannabis trafficking.
Judge Paul Smith warned McCollum that drug trafficking often resulted in jail time but said he was willing to give the young man a chance.
Dealer undone by 30,000 texts
A Charters Towers man’s drug trafficking business was undone after police found more than 30,000 text messages relating to his crimes.
Phillip John Haskins, 50, was sentenced in the Townsville Supreme Court on January 2019 after pleading guilty to trafficking dangerous drugs and other drug related offences.
Crown Prosecutor Shannon Sutherland said Haskins predominantly sold methamphetamine but also some cannabis.
“This offending was revealed by over 30,000 text messages across two mobile phones seized by police during two separate search warrants,” Ms Sutherland said.
‘Gifted athlete’ supplies drugs
Steven Terence Ryan faced Charters Towers District Court in November 2019 on seven counts relating to supplying a dangerous drug and crime utensil possession.
The 29-year-old father submitted an early plea of guilty to all seven charges as his defence barrister Frank Richards told the court Ryan was a man of good character.
A former Columba Catholic College student, Ryan was described as a gifted athlete and scholar during his adolescence.
Mr Richards told the court Ryan was a former Queensland dirt bike champion and a gifted rugby league player, cricketer and swimmer.
On August 18, 2017, Ryan’s motel room in Charters Towers was the subject of a search warrant by local police where his mobile phone was seized.
A subsequent search of text messages on the phone found Ryan had been attempting to traffic a schedule 1 drug to up to five clients including his friend, his sister’s ex-boyfriend and one of his sister’s friends.
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Dealer given final chance
A young woman found guilty of selling drugs has been given a final chance to turn her life around, after being warned the next time she would be behind bars.
Zoe Margaret Athorn, 20, pleaded guilty to 17 charges including 14 counts of supplying dangerous drugs when she faced Townsville Magistrate Court in April 2019.
The court heard the youth, who was 18 years old at the time of her offending, supplied cannabis from July 2017 to July 2018.
Athorn was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 24 months and fined $200 for not performing any of her community service from a previous sentence.
Dealer tries selling drugs to cops
Unemployed Charters Towers man Cody David Reid pleaded guilty to trying to sell drugs to undercover police at Townsville’s Groovin the Moo.
He submitted an early plea of guilty to eight counts of supplying dangerous drugs, two counts of supply schedule to dangerous drugs and two counts of possessing anything used in commission of a crime.
The court heard one account of Reid’s drugs supplying antics, when he was caught at the popular Townsville music festival Groovin The Moo with illicit drugs and subsequently arrested.
An earlier version of this story included an offender who pleaded guilty to supplying dangerous drugs, but did not have a conviction recorded. It has been removed. We’re sorry for the error.
Originally published as NAMED: A list of Townsville drug dealers
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