Goce Petrevski: Warrawong man jailed after gambling, drinking ‘demons’ lead him to sell drugs
An Illawarra man has been sentenced to at least three-and-a-half years jail after his gambling and alcohol addictions spiralled, leading him to deal heroin and meth to keep on top his debts.
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An Illawarra man at the centre of a major drug bust will spend at least three-and-a-half years behind bars after coke, heroin, meth and pseudoephedrine were found stashed in his house.
Warrawong man Goce Petrevski, 47, was sentenced to six years jail with a non-parole period of three years and six months by Judge Chris O’Brien in the NSW District Court at Wollongong on Tuesday, after a court heard ongoing gambling issues lead to his drug dealing.
“He commenced drinking heavily in his 20s, commenced gambling in his 30s and started using cocaine in his 40s,” Judge O’Brien said.
“Drinking and gambling have been his principal demons coupled with an escalating drug use that have seen him spiral to offences which landed him before the court.”
Police pounced on the Warrawong home Petrevski shared with his mother on November 21 last year, where they uncovered thousands of dollars worth of cash and a huge haul of drugs.
The court heard Petrevski’s bedroom had a sophisticated security set-up, with cameras fixed around the house linking to a TV screen in the room.
In the spare bedroom, police found more than 17 grams of methamphetamine separated into five knotted plastic bags in a cane basket, as well as four small bags of cocaine weighing 2.31 grams.
More than $33,000 was also found stashed in the room, $23,000 of which he claimed came from the sale of an overseas apartment.
Twenty-six small heat-sealed bags of heroin were also found hidden in vitamin containers, with a total weight of 169.29 grams. Four 1kg of MSM, a mixing agent commonly used to cut meth with, were also found in the spare room.
Huge hauls of drugs were also found in Petrevski’s garden shed, with officers finding 791 grams of pseudoephedrine, and quantities of meth and heroin stuffed inside a set of galvanised metal pipes.
Petrevski was arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station where he admitted to owning the cocaine and 53 grams of cannabis found in his garage, telling police he used coke recreationally.
He was subsequently charged with deem supply large commercial quantity of prohibited drug, deem supply commercial quantity of prohibited drug and possess precursor, to which he pleaded guilty earlier this year.
In court on Tuesday, a report written by a psychiatrist revealed Petrevski, dubbed a “drug wholesaler” by the Crown, had started selling drugs to make up his gambling losses, and that prior to his arrest, he had no criminal record.
In handing down his sentence, Judge O’Brien noted Petrevski’s remorse however said illicit drugs cause “great harm” in the community, and that anyone who “sought to benefit from that harm” needed to be punished.
Petrevski will be eligible for release to parole in May 2023.