Wangaratta crime: Daniel Sacco jailed for drug trafficking

A Wangaratta father will have to meet his newborn baby in prison after he was caught carrying 200g of drugs in his backpack.

A Wangaratta father will be forced to wait to meet his newborn after he was jailed for carrying more than 200g worth of drugs in his backpack, a court has heard.

Daniel Sacco, 42, was sentenced to a minimum of 20 months behind bars after pleading guilty to trafficking a drug of dependence in a commercial quantity in the Melbourne County Court.

The court heard Sacco had missed the birth of his child after he was taken into custody in August last year.

Sacco was arrested after he was seen walking on Federation Way in Wahgunyah – an area not often used by pedestrians according to the prosecution’s case.

A search of his backpack uncovered 222.6g of methamphetamine, 184g of which was pure.

Daniel Sacco was jailed for a minimum of 20 months.

Also inside was a toiletry bag containing $9300 in cash while Sacco’s wallet had an extra $1040.

He made full admissions to the bag containing drugs when police asked to conduct their search.

The prosecution argued the drugs were in Sacco’s possession for the purpose of sale.

The defence had previously submitted Sacco had no wider connections to organised criminal syndicates.

Judge Scott Johns said he understood Sacco’s first time in custody was difficult due to the ongoing pandemic.

“In your case I accept the clang of the prison door has had a savagery effect given you have not been in custody before and your personal circumstances,” he said.

Sacco will spend a maximum of three years and three months in jail.

He had been remanded in custody for 440 days at the time of sentencing.

Judge Johns indicated he would have sentenced Sacco to four-and-a-half years prison had he not pleaded guilty.