Penrith drug dealer ‘wanted to provide for his family’
In a story reminiscent of the award-winning TV show Breaking Bad, a South Penrith man has told a court he become involved in a major criminal drugs operation to provide for his family after he dies.
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A man who became involved in a major criminal drugs operation told a court he did so in order to provide for his family after his death
Shane Norman McDonald, 49, who was found with more than 75kg of drugs at his South Penrith home, told a judge he had a limited lifespan due to a liver condition.
His comments are reminiscent of the storyline of hit TV show Breaking Bad, in which the main character, who has terminal cancer, cooks and sells meth to provide for his wife and son.
On July 24 last year a police strike force investigating the importation and supply of drugs in Sydney carried out a search of McDonald’s Sunset Ave home, Downing Centre Court heard on Friday.
Items found within a garage at the property included toolboxes, eskys and an eco-bag containing “various large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA.”
Police also found a set of scales, and 10kg of cocaine found inside Mr McDonalds’s Nissan Navara.
The court heard the total amount of drugs seized from at the property tallied 75.8kg, comprising 47.384kg of methamphetamine, 23.663kg of cocaine and 4.76kg of MDMA.
Judge Graham Turnbull noted the drugs had a purity of between 75 to 88 per cent and had the potential to cause “significant harm” to the community.
“Clearly at first blush this is a serious quantity of drugs available for distribution to the community with all the intended consequences,” Judge Turnbull said.
“If the drugs were distributed in this form they posed a significant threat to the community, particularly in terms of the community’s ability to verify the potency in an effective way.”
Mr McDonald, who has remained in custody since his arrest, submitted he played an “important but not a high level role in a substantial criminal operation”.
He told the court his limited lifespan due to a liver condition and therefore his attempts to financially provide for his family was a “significant factor” for his involvement in the operation.
Judge Turnbull found that although Mr McDonald was “handling the drugs in a certain way” he was “clearly not going to benefit from the vast profits that would be made.”
“He was caught with the incriminating material in all its battered glory (but) in terms of his role I conclude he was not a leading participant,” he said.
“It’s clear he’s somebody who has utilised to shield and protect the main players.”
He pleaded guilty to supplying commercial quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA.
In sentencing, Judge Turnbull took into account the guilty plea, but said he had a responsibility to set a sentence that would serve as an effective deterrent.
Mr McDonald was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 12 years in jail, with a non-parole period of nine years, backdated to the date of his arrest.
He will be eligible for parole in July 2027.