Nathan Chan: Old Guildford teenager pleads guilty to large drug supply
A Sydney teenager said he is ‘demonstrably rehabilitated’ as he came clean over his role in a drug dealing operation. He has now been sentenced in court.
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A teenage drug dealer has been jailed for supplying MDMA and cocaine to an undercover operative.
A teenage drug dealer has been jailed for supplying MDMA and cocaine to an undercover operative.
Nathan Chan, 19, appeared at the Sydney District Court on Monday to be sentenced for three drug deals, which occurred over about three months last year.
On May 13, an undercover operative struck up a conversation with one of the drug group members on the encrypted app Wickr.
It was agreed that someone would meet with them the next day in Strathfield.
Chan met the operative and exchanged the drugs for money, the court heard.
Analysis revealed the five small plastic bags contained 139g of MDMA, which is a large commercial quantity.
About $50,000 of cocaine was supplied by Chan to the operative on two other occasions, the court heard, when Chan was in the company of another male.
Judge Penelope Hock said Chan had a “low level” role in the group and was “most exposed to the risk of detection” as he was the one dealing directly with the undercover operative.
She also said he “acted in complete disregard for the harm these substances cause to society”.
Police searched his family home in Guildford on November 3 and he was arrested the next day.
The court heard a psychological report revealed Chan has Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder.
He was sentenced to two years and six months behind bars, with a non-parole period of one year and two months.
He will be eligible for release in June next year.
EARLIER
BY JO PANAGOPOULOS ON OCTOBER 29, 2021
A teenage drug dealer has been “demonstrably rehabilitated” in custody, a court has heard.
Nathan Chan, 19, has pleaded guilty to three drug supply charges and will be sentenced in the Sydney District Court next week.
The court heard Chan, of Old Guildford, supplied 139g of MDMA, which is a commercial quantity, as well as two indictable amounts of cocaine.
His barrister Steven Boland said the drug group was “remarkably simple” and said the syndicate was penetrated on the same day a warrant was obtained by investigators.
He said such “unsophisticated” and “easily detectable” operations needed “dispensable people” and claimed Chan was one of these.
He dismissed a claim by the Crown prosecutors that Chan could have been an operator or at least “not … at the lowest rung” of the operation.
Mr Boland said Chan had obviously taken “significant missteps” but was “well on the path to correcting himself” and called him “demonstrably rehabilitated”.
Judge Penelope Hock said she would find special circumstances on sentence as he was “still so young” and his intellectual development was still progressing.
The court heard Chan was 18 at the time of his arrest.
Chan first appeared at Central Local Court on November 5 last year and is currently in custody.
A court previously heard he supplied the drugs to undercover operatives.
Judge Hock said a full-time custodial sentence was the only sentencing option.
He will return to court on November 1.
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