Issa Mohammad escapes jail sentence as judge finds rehab turned his life around

A member of troubled game show host Andrew O’Keefe’s “band of brothers” from drug rehab has escaped a possible 23 years in jail after a judge found he had turned his life around.

One of troubled game show host Andrew O’Keefe’s “band of brothers” from drug rehab has escaped a possible 23 years in jail after a judge found he had turned his life around.

Issa Mohammad, 27, had been using drugs and cannabis daily from the age of 14 and became a chronic cocaine user living a “reckless” life who sold drugs for money to feed his own addiction, the District Court was told on Monday.

He was arrested in July 2021 for supplying cocaine from an Ingleburn granny flat he had rented in a false name and spent eight months in jail on remand before getting bail on condition he spend six months at the Global Connect rehab camp on the mid-north coast where his fellow residents included O’Keefe, who was also there on bail.

The day Mohammad graduated from rehab last year, O’Keefe leapt onto the stage during the ceremony, grabbed the microphone and, rallying his “band of brothers”, declared how every one of them had “contributed something extraordinarily special to this brotherhood”.

Mohammad, legally represented by solicitor Fadi Abbas, had earlier pleaded guilty to supplying 400 grams of cocaine and dealing with $1200 which was the proceeds of crime and his sentence had been adjourned to Monday pending his time in rehab.

Issa Mohammad, 27, while in rehab at Global Connect at Swan Bay along with Andrew O’Keefe. He has escaped a possible 23-year jail term for supplying cocaine after a judge found he had turned his life around. Picture: David Swift

“His risk of reoffending is low, he has reunited with his family, he has effectively turned his life around,” Judge Gina O’Rourke said.

“He has undergone a significant rehabilitation.”

“He has disassociated himself from the drug milieu and created his own business.”

She said the maximum sentence for the two offences was 23 years with a standard non-parole period of 10 years.

Issa Mohammad (right), who was in Global Connect drug rehab with Andrew O'Keefe, escapes a jail sentence for drug supply. He is pictured outside Downing Centre District Court with his lawyer Fadi Abbas. Picture: Janet Fife-Yeomans

She said she did not want to undo the good work that had been done in rehab and sentenced him to two years 11 months to be served by way of an Intensive Corrections Order as an alternative to full-time imprisonment with 300 hours community service and a 10pm to 5am curfew.

“I have given you a chance to keep you in the community but if you blow it, you are likely to go back into custody,” Judge O’Rourke told Mohammad.

Andrew O’Keefe leapt onto the stage during the graduation ceremony at Connect Global and referred to all of the men there as his “band of brothers”. Picture: David Swift

His mother had written to the court to say that her son, now a self-employed painter and decorator, was “completely different” after rehab.

The court was told he had suffered PTSD, anxiety and depression after he grew up being beaten with a belt and wooden spoon by his father who would “go to the pub drinking to all hours of the morning”.

After having domestic violence charges dealt with on mental health grounds in 2021, O’Keefe, 50, is facing fresh charges of common assault, contravening an AVO, resisting a police officer and assault occasioning bodily harm.