Joseph Menniti: Exclusive Real Estate agent convicted of drug supply
The side hustle of a rising real estate agent caught red-handed dealing cocaine in Sydney’s inner west has finished with a jail sentence hanging over his head.
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The side hustle of a rising real estate agent caught red-handed dealing cocaine in Sydney’s inner west has finished with a jail sentence hanging over his head.
Employed at Exclusive Real Estate, based in Concord West, 27-year-old Joseph Pio Menniti spent the Friday night of July 10 driving a Hyundai i30 in Marrickville.
The Greenacre man, who owns one property and lives with his parents, was spotted by police picking up a man from Marrickville pub The Vic on the Park before driving to a nearby 7/11 service station.
Police watched on as the passenger withdrew money from an ATM, re-entered the car and was driven back to the same pub. As the passenger left, police pounced and spoke to Menniti, asking if there were drugs in the car.
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The 27-year-old confessed immediately with police soon locating 16 resealable bags of cocaine, weighing 15g, and $500 cash in a Tom Ford box inside the glovebox.
The real estate agent’s phone was seized with police later establishing he had been using the encrypted messaging application WhatsApp, court documents reveal.
In Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman heard Menniti’s gambling addiction and cocaine use had led to his drug dealing ways and that, before being charged by police, the 27-year-old had “a good career trajectory”.
The man was convicted of drug supply and dealing with the proceeds of crime and sentenced to 12 months jail, to be served in the community as an intensive corrections order.