Jack Zeller: Burpengary East rugby league player trafficked meth

A stint in the concrete industry with other drug users led a Moreton Bay man who’d gotten himself clean back down a dark path, a court has heard.

After performing “exceptionally” well on parole and freeing himself from methamphetamine’s dark embrace, a Moreton Bay rugby league player’s stint in the concreting industry with other users led him down a path which has ended in a drug trafficking conviction.

Burpengary East man Jack Phillip Zeller, 28, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday to 12 offences, most seriously possessing a commercial quantity of meth and trafficking in drugs including meth, MDMA and cannabis.

The court heard the offences occurred over two periods.

The first was on September 20, 2019, just five months after Zeller completed a 15-month stint on parole for supplying Schedule 1 dangerous drugs, when police were alerted to two cars parked in a council-owned park at Sandstone Point.

Zeller was discovered in the front passenger seat of one of the cars with a sports bag in the footwell.

The court heard police witnessed Zeller attempt to hide a cloth sunglasses case between his legs as he exited the vehicle.

A search of the sunglasses case uncovered 2.9g pure meth in 3.7g of substance split between two clipseal bags.

Burpengary East rugby league player and concreter Jack Phillip Zeller, 28. Picture: Facebook

Meanwhile, the sports bag contained 21g of cannabis split between two clipseal bags, three clipseal bags containing small amounts of cocaine, 10 MDMA capsules and a variety of drug paraphernalia.

Zeller was back under the police microscope following a search warrant on his then-Deception Bay residence on July 31 last year.

The search uncovered Zeller in possession of small quantities of cannabis, methamphetamine and MDMA, as well as drug paraphernalia.

Analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had been trafficking in those three drugs over the previous month, conducting at least 26 sales with 13 customers, the court heard.

Zeller was remanded in pre-sentence custody on August 16 last year and released on October 13, a total of 59 declarable days.

The court heard Zeller had a four-page criminal history for mostly drug offending.

It was submitted on Zeller’s behalf that, while he performed “exceptionally” on his 15-month parole order and weaned himself clean, a stint in the concreting industry with other meth-users caused him to relapse.

He still worked casually in the industry, the court heard, but had an offer of full-time employment in the construction sector.

The court was told Zeller had submitted an impressive record of clean drug screens since his release on Supreme Court bail last October and had rediscovered his passion for rugby league after a decade-long hiatus, signing up to his local team to stay fit and busy.

Justice Peter Flanagan sentenced Zeller, who was supported in court by his mother and long-term partner, with whom he has two young children, to three years’ imprisonment with immediate court-ordered parole.