Robert Mank sentenced for cannabis crops in Illawarra and South Coast

A property developer with links to an outlaw motorcycle gang claimed he was “experimenting” with a “gardening project” after being caught with the best part of 100 cannabis plants.

Robert Mank was busted with cannabis crops in Kanahooka and Greenwell Point. Picture: NSW Police

A property developer and oyster farmer with links to an outlaw motorcycle gang claimed he was “experimenting” with a “gardening project” after being caught with the best part of 100 cannabis plants.

Robert Rudolf Mank, 50, was sentenced to a 26-month intensive correction order in Wollongong District Court on Thursday.

The sentence came after the 50-year-old previously pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis for a commercial purpose and knowing take part in the cultivation of a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant.

The court heard a police investigation led to an address at Koonawarra being searched in December, 2023, where 23 cannabis plants of various sizes were located.

Judge Andrew Haesler noted the “entire house was set up for the cultivation of cannabis” with electricity being bypassed, artificial light sources and heat lamps.

Robert Mank was sentenced on Thursday. Picture: Facebook

The court heard police turned their attention to Mank’s home in Greenwell Point where they questioned him about the set up in the Illawarra.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mank said before police uncovered 59 more weed plants at the property.

The court heard Mank was arrested and was held in custody for more than seven months before being granted bail in the NSW Supreme Court.

Defence barrister Matthew Barnes told the court his client had complex mental health issues and severe rheumatoid arthritis.

The court heard as part of his sentencing assessment report Mank said the crops were a “gardening project” and were for personal use.

When asked about the cannabis Robert Mank told police “I don’t know what you’re talking about”.

However, Judge Haesler was not buying this reasoning, quipping the operation was “nipped in the bud” due to “good police work”.

“It is hard to comprehend someone going to that much trouble for personal-use medical cannabis,” he said.

“In my modest vegetable garden I can provide beans and lettuce to five or six of my neighbours. If it was an illicit substance I was supplying I wouldn’t need two houses.”

The judge noted Mank’s physical and psychological ailments as well as his time associated with the Illawarra-based Fourth Reich outlaw motorcycle gang.

Judge Andrew Haesler said “good police work” ultimately “nipped [the set up] in the bud”.

“He has spent a significant time of his life as part of a local motorcycle group,” Judge Haesler said.

“He is not to be punished for being a motorcycle enthusiast, but continued contact with those who see themselves outside of society is a risk to reoffending.”

While handing down the sentence, Judge Haesler, who in his past has advocated for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis, said it was “obvious we cannot continue using jail” to manage the “chronic problem in the community”.

“This was a serious crime which could have had serious consequences,” he said.

The order will expire in December, 2026. Mank was also ordered to complete 150 hours of community service work in this period.

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