Silkwood ‘family man’ Darren Anthony Formosa, 51, sentenced for drug trafficking
A Cassowary Coast family man of “good character” linked to a bust of over 90kg of cannabis, “fell” into trafficking after he began using the drug medicinally for a back injury, a court has heard.
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A Cassowary Coast family man of “good character” linked to a bust of over 90kg of cannabis, “fell” into trafficking after he began using the drug medicinally for a back injury, a court has heard.
Darren Anthony Formosa, 51, was sentenced in Cairns District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug after 92.29kg of cannabis in various stages of production was found during a raid at a rural property in Irvinebank.
Prosecutor Shauna Farrelly told the court the charges arose out of a phone interception operation through which police identified Formosa and his co-accused, Philip Sacagio’s “established business” of trafficking.
“Philip Sacagio grew the cannabis in Irvinebank, after the cannabis was dried and prepared for packaging, it was supplied to the defendant in wholesale quantities who on-sold in wholesale amounts and at street level,” Ms Farrelly said.
“His role was to sell the product.”
Ms Farrelly said police disrupted the operation on July 21, 2022 when a search of the residence of Sacagio uncovered a large quantity of cannabis.
“There was 30.3kg of dried cannabis, 10.2kg of bundled cannabis plants, 31.2kg of fresh cannabis heads, and 21.2kg of mostly fresh cannabis heads which had not been cleaned,” she said.
Ms Farrelly estimated the value of the cannabis seized between $373,000 and $498,000.
The court heard Formosa persisted to source cannabis, despite the seizure, from other suppliers and even offered to pay for Mr Sacagio’s legal fees plus $100,000 to “fund his lifestyle” if he would recommence growing.
Judge Joshua Trevino KC commented the money offered to Sacagio might be an example of how lucrative the venture may have been and said Formosa “wouldn’t be doing that out of pure altruism”.
Ms Farrelly told the court Formosa was “independently wealthy” and his offending was motivated out of “greed not need”.
Defence counsel Brydie Bilic told the court Formosa grew up on a cane farm in Silkwood and was close to his family, many of whom were present in court.
Formosa previously worked as a fitter and turner at the mill, and had also worked in commercial fishing.
Ms Bilic told the court Formosa began using cannabis to treat a back injury sustained in 2010 and suffered from major depressive disorder.
“It was the injury to his back and his reliance on pharmaceuticals that led to him becoming involved in the use of cannabis and that is how he then met people who were involved and we end up here,” she said.
Judge Trevino called Formosa’s offending “a spectacular fall from grace” from a man of good character who has “lived an otherwise law abiding life”.
“This perhaps demonstrates the pernicious effect of this drug and its effect on Formosa,” Judge Trevino said.
“There was a deliberateness and persistence to his conduct after police executed a search and found a very large amount of cannabis and this didn’t deter him from his criminal enterprise.”
Formosa was sentenced to three years six months imprisonment with the sentence suspended after 12 months.
Mr Sacagio was previously sentenced to three years imprisonment to do 12 months for production of cannabis.
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Originally published as Silkwood ‘family man’ Darren Anthony Formosa, 51, sentenced for drug trafficking
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