Carpenter jailed for lying about drugs out of ‘misguided loyalty’ to lawyer Campbell MacCallum
A man has been jailed after lying to the corruption watchdog about supplying drugs to embattled lawyer Campbell MacCallum out of “misguided loyalty” to his “best friend”.
Police & Courts
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A Gold Coast carpenter claims he lied to the corruption watchdog about supplying drugs to embattled lawyer Campbell MacCallum out of “misguided loyalty” to his “best friend”.
Bodybuilder Craig David McDonald, 34, was jailed on Friday after pleading guilty to the supply and possession of dangerous drugs including steroids, cocaine and cannabis.
McDonald also pleaded guilty to three counts of perjury for lying to the Crime and Corruption Commission during an investigation into lawyer Campbell MacCallum and his firm Moloney MacCallum Abdelshahied Lawyers.
Crown Prosecutor Ryder Reid said during a Star Chamber hearing, McDonald claimed he had never supplied Mr MacCallum with drugs or used drugs with him.
But investigators found communications between the pair discussing both the supply and use of drugs.
McDonald also claimed he had never paid Mr MacCallum or his firm for legal fees but that was also discovered to be a lie.
Mr Reid called for the perjury sentence to be cumulative on top of the sentence McDonald received for the drug crimes, saying the offending “strikes at the heart of the justice system”.
Defence barrister Nicholas Brown submitted the perjury offending was at the lower end of the scale.
“It was in the context of giving evidence about someone he considered to be his best friend,” he said.
Mr Brown said there was no “real prospects of personal gain” for McDonald in lying to the CCC and he had acted out of a “misguided loyalty” to his friend.
“So it’s somewhat explainable in terms of why he took that path at the CCC,” he said.
“It seems relevant that the CCC weren’t being misled about something they didn’t know about.
“It seems basically all the material was already known.”
McDonald was also sentenced on other unrelated drug charges including supplying anabolic steroids to three different people in 2019.
Mr Reid said when police raided McDonald’s home, they discovered more than 222 grams of various types of steroids and small amounts of other drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, cannabis and diazepam.
He pleaded guilty to 13 charges including supplying and possessing dangerous drugs and three counts of perjury.
McDonald was given a head sentence of three years imprisonment for the drug offending and a cumulative 14 month term of imprisonment for the perjury offences.
Justice Elizabeth Wilson said McDonald would be eligible for parole in January 2022 after serving about one third of the 50 month term of imprisonment, taking into account time already served.
The CCC investigation, code named Operation Jackal, began in 2019 and looked into alleged fraud and money laundering by Mr MacCallum and other lawyers.
Mr MacCallum is currently facing fraud and money laundering charges and is yet to enter a plea.
His case is due to be mentioned again in the Brisbane Magistrates Court next month.
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