Jake Anthony Magri faces Lismore District Court for West Ballina drug supply charges

A West Ballina man who led a cross-border drug and guns syndicate tried to turn cash into Bitcoin to hide the profits, a court has heard.

Jake Magri was arrest in Ballina arrest during massive police raids across three states.

A West Ballina man behind an extensive cross-border guns and drug syndicate was led to a life of crime due to migraines, his defence has argued.

Jake Anthony Magri, 28, faced Lismore District Court on Friday for sentencing regarding multiple drug and firearm possession and supply charges from 2020.

Magri had previously plead guilty to possessing an unauthorised pistol, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and unauthorised supply of prohibited firearms.

A further guilty plea of manufacturing a prohibited drug in a large commercial quantity, which was previously set for trial, was accepted on Friday after resolution.

According to defence solicitor Greg James this charge related to Magri adding a solution to the obtained “purer” drug to be able to cut the substance into the illegal pills.

Two further charges were then added which Magri plead guilty to.

These were two counts of supplying a commercial quantity of prohibited drug.

Magri was involved in a high-level drug syndicate that operated in New South Wales, south east Queensland, and Victoria.

Police will allege military grade firearms were distributed throughout the syndicate’s illegal network.

On Friday, Mr James argued for “proper proportionality” in his sentencing submissions.

Magri found himself in a criminal underworld after turning to drugs as a way to deal with his serious epileptic migraines, the court heard.

Mr James said it was a condition Magri shared with his father and seeing his father’s “degeneration” aggravated a depression which further made Magri seek out illegal solutions.

Episodes started when he was about 12 and included sensory deprivation, periods of semi-consciousness and periods of prolonged hospitalisation.

“He would be partly paralysed on one half of his body and having seizures on the other half of his body,” he said of the migraines.

“His dealing therefore is of a drug addict serving his drug addiction.”

Mr James argued Magri was spurred to more serious offending, including the firearms supply, to satisfy the undercover officer he was dealing to and oblige an upline supplier.

He also said the 28-year-old had already spent 14 months in custody in which he was “bashed” by other inmates as he asked for consideration into Magri’s vulnerability.

“It’s an unusual case, it’s got a lot of offences involved but all of common cause, of a relative short period, in relation to the undercover officer and upline suppliers,” he said.

Jake Magri was arrested in Ballina during massive police raids across three states.

However, crown prosecutor David Morters fought that claim, saying the offences were ones of “sophistication”.

“My learned friend said this isn’t a typical sort of matter for commercial drug supply,” he said.
“This is stock standard as fair as the Crown is concerned.

“He’s dealing 13 times the minimum amount prosecutable for large commercial quantity.

“He’s then gone to an elaborate process of laundering the proceeds of a large sum of cash to other persons to convert into bitcoin for him.”

He then went on to say Magri’s illness records did “provide an explanation but don’t provide an excuse.”

Mr James further argued the crimes were not sophisticated but just meant the undercover policeman was “good at his job”.

“If he was sophisticated he wouldn’t continue to deal with the (undercover officer),” he said.

“Criminals are just the unsuccessful members of their occupation.

“He was progressively getting more and more into trouble for someone vulnerable to start with.”

Judge Warwick Hunt said he would need further time to consider Magri’s sentencing.

Given that, he adjourned the sentence to December 13 in Lismore District Court.

Magri’s co-accused, Aaron Andreas Salwat, 27, who stands guilty of manufacturing and supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, will appear in Lismore District Court on December 14 for further mention.