Appeal success for prison contraband smuggler Jake Quilla who broke into Goulburn

A man has successfully appealed his sentence after he was jailed for breaking into the Goulburn prison yard to smuggle tennis balls filled with drugs to his friends inside the jail.

A man has successfully appealed his sentence after he was jailed for breaking into the Goulburn prison yard to smuggle tennis balls filled with drugs to his friends inside the jail.

Jake Quilla, 28, appeared in Goulburn District Court last Tuesday to appeal for a more lenient sentence after being jailed for 30 months in September last year.

The Waterloo resident had previously pleaded guilty to three charges of supplying a prohibited drug, custody of a knife, not complying with a public health order, and unlawfully delivering goods to an inmate.

Court documents reveal Quilla drove down from Sydney on the morning of August 7, despite the public health notice ordering Sydney residents to stay at home to prevent the spread of Covid.

Jake Quilla broke into Goulburn Jail to throw tennis balls filled with contraband to prisoners inside. Picture: Sean Davey

At 10.45am, police facts show Quilla parked his black Jeep near the cemetery at the rear of the correctional centre, jumped the wire fence to get into the yard of the prison, and threw three packages over the brick wall into the facility.

Meanwhile, court documents show he was busted by a dog-walking resident who waved her arms at the prison guards to notify them about the break in. The court heard officers raised the alarm, but not before Quilla scaled the fence and sped off in the Jeep.

The court heard the correctional officers checked the yard and found two packages, both heavily wrapped in duct tape.

When they opened the first package, officers found a tennis ball stuffed with a pouch of tobacco, a lighter, 6.76 grams of cannabis, 10 packages of Buprenorphine wafers (which weighed a total of 11.02 grams), 5 orange Mylan tablets, and 1.31 grams of meth.

The second duct-taped package contained 10.81 grams of cannabis in bags, two wafers of Buprenorphine, Xanax tablets, four pouches of tobacco, three packets of rolling papers, a note which read: “for kickback my niggs”.

Despite nearly being caught the first time, the court heard Quilla returned to the prison at 1pm to scale the wire fence again. He was spotted by correctional officers throwing items over the brick wall before he hopped back over the fence and made a run for it through a nearby paddock, according to the facts.

Police found Quilla near a river and searched him, finding a knife down the front of his pants. The court heard police then searched the Jeep and found several tennis balls, a roll of duct tape, scissors, tobacco and a notebook with a page torn out.

Jake Quilla was caught by police near the river beside the Goulburn Correctional Centre.

The court heard Quilla was on parole “for the commission of serious offences” at the time of the offence and he has a lengthy criminal history which includes convictions for robbery, assault, and dishonesty offences.

In September last year, Quilla was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 months. However, Goulburn District Court heard Quilla felt the sentence was too severe for the offences.

Judge Mark Williams confirmed the convictions and determined the appeal should be upheld. He reduced Quilla’s overall sentence by six months and increased the non-parole period from 20 to 15 months.

After being taken into custody on August 7 last year, Quilla will be released on parole on November 6. His total sentence will conclude after two years on August 6, 2023.