Noosa’s The Rolling Rock nightclub co-owner Marcus Les Wright jailed for cocaine trafficking, fraud

Sad details of a Sunshine Coast nightclub co-owner’s descent into drug trafficking have been heard in court, with both his financial and family struggles laid bare.

A Sunshine Coast nightclub owner, whose life “fell apart” when he found out his father had been having an affair with his wife, has been jailed for drug trafficking.

Marcus Les Wright, 41, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday to one count each of trafficking dangerous drugs, possessing a phone used in a crime, and fraud.

He is a co-owner of The Rolling Rock nightclub in Noosa.

The court heard the nightclub’s financial troubles were part of the reason why Wright turned to trafficking and selling drugs.

Crown prosecutor James Bishop said Wright trafficked cocaine for 13 months, between April 2020 and May 2021, and purchased the drugs from a Victorian supplier.

Mr Bishop said Wright paid the supplier $99,600 in total – $45,000 paid off an old debt, and $54,600 bought him 8.6 ounces of cocaine, which had a resale value of $72,000-$120,000.

Customers would come to The Rolling Rock nightclub to collect “the bags”.

“There’s a degree of sophistication involved in the operation of the business and the defendant operated essentially as the distributor of drugs and the supplier to other drug suppliers for the purpose of onselling those drugs,” Mr Bishop told the court.

Marcus Wright leaves Noosa Magistrates Court in November 2021. Photo: Patrick Woods.

When police raided Wright’s Noosaville home in March 2021, they found a phone belonging to Wright with drug-related messages.

The fraud charge arose from Wright enlisting the services of an associate to transfer $100,000 of his superannuation to a shelf company. The associate then transferred $75,000 to Wright in return, while the associate kept $25,000 as payment for his services.

The court heard Wright used the $75,000 to pay personal and business expenses, and pay off his credit card debt.

The prosecution asked for Wright to be sentenced to eight years’ jail in total.

Defence barrister Angus Edwards asked for his client to instead be given five years.

“His whole life fell apart in 2017/2018. He found out that his father, with whom he was close, had been having an affair with his wife,” Mr Edwards said.

“His marriage fell apart, his relationship with his father was a mess. He felt betrayed by his father. His mother ultimately took his father’s side, so that relationship fell apart.

“He got pushed out of the (family) business, so was out of work. He had difficulty seeing his two young children who he had with his wife.”

Mr Edwards also argued Wright’s drug trafficking “was not high-level” as he only had 16 customers, seven of whom were regulars. The quantities sold to each were mostly seven grams or less, and the cocaine had been heavily cut and was only 15-20 per cent pure.

The Rolling Rock Nightclub on Hastings Street in Noosa, of which Mr Wright is a co-owner. Photo: Supplied.

Wright has since reconciled with his father, and his father has invested in the nightclub business.

Wright has also remarried and has five children in total – three young children with his current wife, and two older children from his previous marriage.

Wright wants to get out of the nightclub business after serving his sentence.

In sentencing, Judge Lincoln Crowley described the trafficking as “serious”, highlighting that Wright used encrypted messaging applications and code words to arrange drug deals.

Judge Crowley noted Wright’s psychological reports linked his wife’s affair with him “self-medicating with alcohol and drugs”.

He also took into account Wright’s mental health issues, and accepted Wright had shown genuine remorse and his genuine prospects of rehabilitation.

Wright was sentenced to five years in prison for drug trafficking, and 15 months concurrently for the fraud offence. He was convicted and not further punished for the other offence.

Wright’s five-year prison sentence will be suspended and he will be released once he has spent 15 months behind bars. This comes with the condition that he does not commit another offence punishable by jail time for the five years after he is released.