James Booth to be sentenced for large commercial drug supply

An eastern suburbs carpenter who says he is beating his addiction after he got caught dealing a large commercial quantity of drugs is now desperate to avoid further jail time, a court has heard.

James Booth, 29, has pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs.

An eastern suburbs carpenter who became embroiled in a cocaine supply operation now has everything to lose since turning his life around after his release on bail, a court has heard.

James Booth spent 17 grim months on remand in a variety of NSW prisons after he was charged over his involvement in a Sydney drug syndicate in April 2021.

He has now pleaded guilty to two counts of large commercial drug supply and one count of commercial drug supply.

A court has heard he is desperate to avoid spending any more time behind bars after starting his own business, finally opening a bank account despite his criminal charges, and remaining abstinent from drugs since he commenced a stint in residential rehabilitation.

Booth was one of six men arrested two and a half years ago when Raptor Squad police seized more than 12kg of illicit drugs, including cocaine, MDMA and ice.

The 29-year-old described his subsequent stints at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre – known better as Silverwater Jail – Parklea Prison and Clarence Correctional Centre as “a jungle”.

James Booth.

“Sixty boys, all criminals, in one area, no rules – much as everyone thinks guards control jail, they don’t, there’s no-one to look after us,” Booth told Judge Pauline David.

“It’s not a place you want to be, you’re on edge every day – you’re not sure if someone’s gonna stab you, fight you, take something that’s yours, and drugs are everywhere.”

Booth shared a harrowing account of his time in custody during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he was remanded at Parklea in Sydney’s west and Clarence near Grafton.

“At Parklea, 54 days straight we weren’t allowed out of the cells at all, not even for a phone call or anything,” Booth told Judge David.

“There was a period at Clarence where, if we got Covid, you would be put in a truck for 10 hours to Silverwater, no stops, with the other sick boys, and put in a cell for 14 days, not even a doctor would see you.”

Booth endured this gruelling 10-hour journey to Sydney and back while he and other inmates were unwell twice during his stint on remand.

Booth on the day of his arrest.

Booth on the day of his arrest.

Wearing a black collared shirt and trousers, the man sitting in the dock at Penrith District Court said he had come a long way since he was taken from his eastern suburbs address in handcuffs and designer slides.

The court heard Booth had voluntarily taken weekly urine tests to prove to himself and others that his abstinence from drugs could be achieved.

He has been residing at a shared house in Sydney’s northwest since October 2022 after he was granted bail to participate in full-time rehabilitation at The Restoration Centre.

The court heard he had been given a position of responsibility over younger program participants, and had participated heartily in maintaining their property and the centre’s homeless outreach activities.

Some of the cocaine seized by police at the time.

“I feel like a different person, I can see what is wrong and right, how I’ve hurt my family,” Booth told the court.

“It’s terrible, obviously, I can’t believe what I was doing with my life – (the harm I would have caused by dealing drugs is) the same harm it had on me, I had that drug problem as well.”

Booth also told the court prominent eastern suburbs developers Carmen and Steve Davidson had changed his life and given him purpose by taking a chance on him as a contractor.

The court heard Booth had also repaired his relationships with his father, his twin brother – whose wedding he was able to attend after being released on bail – and his older sister.

His dreams of having a family, building his business and continuing his abstinence from drugs now hang in the balance as Judge David determines how to sentence him.

James Booth.

Booth’s barrister Adam Booker asked the court to consider either a prison term that counts his previous period in custody as the non-parole period, or a three-year intensive correction order.

But the Crown – while acknowledging Booth’s “incredible” achievements and progress since his release on remand – said a sentence other than full-time jail would not give proper effect to the purpose of sentencing or parity with his co-offenders.

The other five men arrested alongside Booth have now all been sentenced.

David Coleman was sentenced to a maximum of six years and seven months’ imprisonment for three counts of large commercial drug supply, with the court considering charges of knowingly participating in a criminal group and possessing a pistol on sentence.

Coleman the day he was arrested.

Ibrahim Kansou.

Ibrahim Kansou was sentenced to a three-year intensive correction order for commercial drug supply and indictable drug supply, with an evening curfew for 10 months.

Jake Davies was sentenced to a maximum of six years and nine months’ imprisonment for three counts of large commercial drug supply.

Alfredo San Giorgio was sentenced to a maximum of six years and three months’ imprisonment for three counts of large commercial drug supply, with a charge of knowingly dealing with crime proceeds taken into account on sentence.

Alfredo San Giorgio.

Abbas Hijazi was sentenced to a maximum of five years’ imprisonment for two counts of taking part in large commercial drug supply, with the court considering a charge of taking part in commercial drug supply on sentence.

Judge David – who sentenced all of the offenders except Kansou – noted it was a challenging sentencing exercise, as each offender was entitled to make their own negotiations through their legal representatives with police as to their role in the scheme.

As a result, Judge David said the role one offender might have played in his own facts relied upon for his sentence may not equate to the level of responsibility ascribed to him in another person’s facts to be relied upon for sentence.

Booth will be sentenced on January 24.