Sam Draper: Mudgee drug dealer avoids more jail for ice supply

A troubled ice dealer says he vowed to get off drugs after a small package fell out of his undies during a search.

A Mudgee man who spent six months in jail on remand after he was caught with drugs down his pants had help to stay sober from a good friend who was a known associate of Comanchero bikies, a court has been told.

Sam Carl Draper, 30, was sentenced in the District Court at Dubbo after pleading guilty to supplying 26 grams of methylamphetamine he was busted with in April 2019.

Mudgee man Sam Draper has been sentenced for supplying ice. Picture: Facebook/Sam Draper

According to court documents, Draper first came to the attention of police who tapped a drug dealer’s phone and heard him discussing the sale of ice.

A day after those conversations took place Draper was spotted driving around in a Holden Commodore on the Castlereagh Highway late at night.

When police tried to stop the car, a woman driving it accelerated before losing control and causing the car to spin around in a circle.

Police approached Draper who was in the passenger seat and he was asked why the car was going fast.

“I don’t know, I just woke up,” Draper said.

Police noticed Draper was fidgeting with his crotch area and when he was asked if he had anything on him he said “look I’ll strip, I have nothing”.

After Draper pulled down his pants slightly, court documents state a police officer said “you keep adjusting your penis, I believe you have something in your undies … hop in the back I’m going to conduct a strip search”.

Sam Draper was caught with 26 grams of ice — more than five times the indictable quantity.

While the search was underway a black coin case fell out from Draper’s underwear and he threw it away.

“F***, it’s not even mine,” Draper said.

After his arrest, Draper was remanded in custody for six months and later released to attend a residential drug rehabilitation facility.

In court, Draper said he previously used drugs to cope with challenges in life and had only sold drugs once.

“I’ve learnt my lesson,” Draper said.

While being cross examined by prosecutor Jarni Simpson, Draper was asked if he was aware a close friend of his who supported him in court was an associate of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang.

Draper said he was aware of his friend’s association with the gang, but it had nothing to do with his ice problem.

Defence lawyer Toshi Weller-Wong told the court Draper’s friend with a link to the gang had been supportive of his client’s efforts to stay off drugs.

“I don’t think it’s a crime to be a member of a motorcycle gang,” Mr Weller-Wong said.

Draper was “something of a middle man” who had suffered “repeated traumas” after one former partner ran off with his best friend and another took off with his brother, Mr Weller-Wong told the court.

Dubbo District Court Judge Nanette Williams said Sam Draper had taken steps to rehabilitate himself. Picture: Jedd Manning

Judge Nanette Williams said it was clear Draper had “a very, very rough start in life” and was exposed to a family member’s drug habit at a young age.

“He has maintained stable employment and abstained from consuming illicit substances,” she said.

“That progress, in my view, would be lost if he was to be incarcerated.”

Judge Williams described Draper’s conduct as “a one-off incident”.

“This was a matter that could have been dealt with in the Local Court.

“Clearly any financial gain that was going to be made by the offender would have been modest.”

Draper was convicted and sentenced to an eight-month intensive corrections order, which is a term of imprisonment served in the community.

As part of the sentence he was ordered to abstain from using drugs and undergo regular urine tests to ensure compliance.