Matthew Lincoln: Meth middleman jailed for Illawarra drug dealing

An Illawarra drug dealer who was described as profiteering off the misery of others has been locked up for his wheeling and dealing throughout last year‘s Covid-19 lockdown.

Balgownie man Matthew Lincoln was sentenced for dealing more than $20,000 worth of meth. Picture: Facebook

A Balgownie drug dealer has been admonished by a magistrate for “making money off other people‘s misery” as he was sentenced to two-years jail with a non-parole period of 18 months.

Matthew James Lincoln appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday following preview guilty pleas to supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug – namely methylamphetamine – and dealing the proceeds of crime.

He also pleaded guilty to supplying a small quantity of a prohibited drug which the court heard for $50 worth of cannabis.

Lincoln was arrested in late September, last year, when he was caught by police attached to the Wollongong Police District‘s Strike Force Nitrogen during a drug deal in Campbelltown.

Police executed a search warrant of his Balgownie home where they seized 35g of meth, $10,000 cash and multiple electronic devices.

Lincoln‘s drug dealing occurred from July through to his arrest in September with the then 44-year-old defying Covid-19 lockdown restrictions to sell drugs in Appin, the Illawarra and as far south as Nowra.

In total Lincoln made 59 separate meth deals, selling 67.9g of the “absolutely appalling drug” with a street value in excess of $20,000.

Matthew Lincoln was sentenced in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday.

Magistrate Gabriel Fleming convicted him of selling the small quantity of dope and fined him $500 before moving onto the more serious charges.

“This is a drug (methylamphetamine) that is not going to do anyone any good … it‘s an absolutely appalling drug,” the magistrate said before outlining that the maximum sentence in the higher District Court was 15 years in prison.

“This is a very large amount, it‘s at least in the mid-range of objective seriousness.

“This is a drug that causes harm and unmitigated sorrow in the community – come into the court any day of the week and you can see what impact it has had.”

“You were making money off other people‘s misery … It’s not acceptable to be peddling this drug in the community to fund your own habit.”

Lincoln‘s lawyer Aaron Kernaghan had submitted his client needed to be at liberty to assist in caring for his ageing mother.

However, Magistrate Fleming neglected the plea, adding “every family suffers when a family member is in custody” and there was “no alternative to full-time imprisonment”.