Kaelib Fitzgerald: Mongols bikie refused bail on gun possession, drug charges
A Mongols Outlaw bikie has made a new bid for freedom after he was allegedly caught with a loaded shotgun and an assortment of drugs when police searched his Holden Commodore in Penrith. At the time, he was on parole for shooting at a car in a car park.
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A Mongols bikie has asked to be released from custody to attend a regional drug rehab centre after he was allegedly caught with a loaded gun while on parole for a public shooting incident.
Kaelib Fitzgerald, 30, will fight charges he was in possession of a loaded .410 double barrel shotgun, ammunition, drugs including two vials of testosterone and 0.48 grams of the drug ice, when police stopped his Holden Commodore on a Penrith street.
Mongols paraphernalia was also allegedly found in his car, and police allege Fitzgerald is a member of the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
Police initially pulled Fitzgerald over on January 22 because he was wanted on a revocation of parole warrant for breaching his parole conditions.
He had just served a prison sentence for shooting at a car in a Penrith car park in 2015, the court heard.
When police searched his car on McMahon Close in Penrith, they found the drugs in a sunglasses case, including methamphetamine in a plastic zip-lock bag, and the .410 caliber firearm in a carrier bag in the front passenger side footwell.
The gun was loaded and the barrel was left open, police allege, and the weapon had been reported stolen by its registered owner in 2013.
Fitzgerald was not licensed or authorised to hold a firearm in NSW, the court heard.
Police allege two items of Mongols motorcycle club clothing were also found in the carrier bag.
Police facts, read out in court, state Fitzgerald’s DNA was found on the “inner seal” of the zip-lock bag containing the drugs.
On September 18, 2019, Fitzgerald was released on parole after serving about three years of a six-and-a-half year sentence for firing a gun at a car in a Penrith car park in 2015.
The bullet is believed to have hit the bumper bar of the vehicle.
He was due to remain on parole until December 18, 2021, but his parole was revoked after he failed to comply with parole conditions.
The explanation given to the court as to why he breached his parole was that he had a falling out with his parole officer and wanted to be issued with another.
His lawyer told the court Fitzgerald hoped for release from custody to “be the father that he wants to be” to his seven-year-old daughter, saying he was at a “crossroads”.
She also said he had a long-term drug problem, which was heightened due to the “unfortunate ease of obtaining drugs in custody”, and that he wanted to address this underlying problem through rehabilitation.
But Justice Robertson Wright said his drug addiction was unrelated to the present offences and told the court he had no choice but to deny him bail.
He will return to Penrith Local Court later this month.