How teen cocaine dealer Jennifer Shewan was caught in the act
A teen who dealt cocaine in Sydney’s most prestigious postcodes — until she was busted making a deal in her Toyota Yaris — has been sentenced after it was revealed she was planning to study criminology before she started using drugs.
St George Shire Standard
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A teen caught dealing cocaine in Sydney’s poshest postcodes said she was wrapped up in the wrong crowd and using drugs before she was finally caught in the act by police.
Jennifer Shewan, 18, wanted to study criminology or take over the family business building high security fences for prisons and other government buildings before she started using marijuana and cocaine in her mid-teens.
Instead, she wound up selling cocaine door to door in swanky Sydney suburbs until police busted her making a fateful dark alley deal in the back of her Toyota Yaris in Cronulla on June 6.
A subsequent analysis of Shewan’s phone exposed her involvement in 12 deals in two days from Sydney’s east to west.
Shewan pleaded guilty to supplying a small quantity of drugs and knowingly taking part in prohibited drug supply and was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order with a conviction.
At Sutherland Local Court, Magistrate Jayeann Carney said she accepted Shewan’s remorse.
“She was mixing in negative circles who approached her with an opportunity to make money,” Ms Carney said.
“Peers can have a dangerous influence on a person’s thinking and she was a willing participant.”
Ms Carney pointed out the danger Shewan had put herself in as she devolved into drug dealing directly to people’s doors.
“This is a risky business,” Ms Carney said.
“Going to people’s houses that you don’t know for the sale and supply of drugs — the group she was socialising with posed a risk to her safety.”
Shewan’s parents and caseworker supported her in court and Ms Carney addressed the impact Shewan’s behaviour had also had on them.
“The defendant knew her parents loved her and this would have caused unimaginable grief for them,” Ms Carney said.
“Despite the values and love of her parents and the future set out for her she made this type of judgment call.”
Ms Carney said Shewan was clearly immature but now had an opportunity to change her life.
“It’s a cliche, but she has her whole life ahead of her,” Ms Carney said.
“We hope people will resist such temptation to acquire drugs but they wouldn’t be able to unless there was a market - and the defendant was providing that market.”
Shewan’s barrister Tom Hughes told the court Shewan was no longer using drugs and was committed to her job as a traffic controller and TAFE studies.