Ballarat drug dealer dad Matthew Piscopo jailed for trafficking meth and possessing guns

A “scared” Ballarat dad nabbed with meth, cash and an arsenal of stolen guns claimed the weapons were for “protection”.

Matthew Piscopo pleaded guilty to trafficking meth. Facebook.

A Ballarat dad nabbed hoarding guns and a large amount of drugs, cash and stolen goods has been jailed.

Matthew Piscopo, 39, was sentenced in the County Court on Wednesday to a minimum three years and ten months’ jail after pleading guilty to trafficking meth and possessing a trafficable quantity of guns.

Piscopo was nabbed with more than 60 grams of meth and six guns at his Canadian home on May 28 last year.

Police also seized liquid meth, deal bags, scales from a bedroom and $5000 cash buried in the backyard of Piscopo’s Rattray Crt property.

Investigators discovered 55 grams of meth and a stolen modified Nikko 12-guage shotgun hidden in the garage roof cavity which the court heard was “ready at hand”.

Police also found several guns buried in the backyard including a homemade handgun capable of discharge and a dismantled rifle.

Three of the seized firearms had been stolen during separate gun heists at properties in Beveridge and Mount Evelyn, the court heard.

Piscopo, who was also caught with stolen power tools, ammunition and a stolen motorbike, told police the guns were for protection, the meth was for “personal use” and he got the cash “selling things”.

Piscopo’s lawyer John Lavery told the court his client was an ice user, and had not planned to sell all the meth he was “hoarding”.

The court heard Piscopo, a labourer, claimed he had been “abducted” by “other people in the drug world” and he acquired the weapons because he was “scared”.

The alleged incident had not been reported to police, the court was told.

Mr Lavery said while some people collected push bikes, his client collected a “number of firearms”.

Judge Frances Hogan said she understood if Piscopo had a level of fear following the alleged kidnapping but that it didn’t explain how many guns he had.

“To have six is quite a lot, isn’t it?” Judge Hogan said.

“And they weren’t quite readily accessible, were they? Should the kidnappers come around.”

Piscopo, who appeared via videolink from the Fulham Correctional, was jailed for a maximum five years and four months.

He had spent 197 days in custody at the time of sentencing.

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