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Drug trafficker Hava Brandman spared jail after 30g ice bust

Hava Brandman, the ex-girlfriend of AFL great Ron De Lulio and an associate of former lawyer Pat Lennon, has faced court. See what the judge ruled.

Hava Brandman must complete 100 hours of community work after pleading guilty to drug trafficking at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Geraghty
Hava Brandman must complete 100 hours of community work after pleading guilty to drug trafficking at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Geraghty

A former footy WAG who is associated with controversial ex-lawyer Pat Lennon has escaped jail after being caught in a car with more than 30 grams of meth, an ice pipe and digital scales.

Hava Brandman, 49, the former partner of Carlton great Ron De Iulio, must complete 100 hours of community work after pleading guilty to drug trafficking at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

She was charged after police in an unmarked car pulled over her white Mitsubishi Pajero in St Kilda East on the afternoon of April 6, 2021.

Mr Lennon, who handed in his legal license last week, has been charged with drugs offences over the same incident. He denies any wrongdoing and faces the court for a committal hearing next week.

Hava Brandman (right) and her lawyer leave Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday after sentencing on drug trafficking charges. Picture: David Geraghty
Hava Brandman (right) and her lawyer leave Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday after sentencing on drug trafficking charges. Picture: David Geraghty

In 2021, Mr Lennon had a million-dollar property in Melbourne’s north transferred from the estate of a bankrupt who owed him legal fees to a company controlled by Brandman.

At an earlier hearing of Brandman’s drugs charges on Monday, the court heard that police searched Brandman’s car and found a gold purse with “a number of clear resealable bags containing what appeared to be a white crystalline substance” inside a Louis Vuitton handbag on a passenger seat.

Police also found a bottle of GHB, a glass pipe, a set of digital scales and three mobile phones in the car, police prosecutor Brook Aknaw told the court.

Hava Brandman outside court on Tuesday. Picture: David Geraghty
Hava Brandman outside court on Tuesday. Picture: David Geraghty

He said Brandman was taken to St Kilda police station where a body search turned up an additional bag of ice concealed under her bra.

Tests later showed the five bags seized contained a total of more than 38g of methamphetamine, he said.

The court heard that Brandman admitted one of the phones, an Apple iPhone, was hers but denied owning the other two phones.

Ron De Iulio. Picture: David Crosling
Ron De Iulio. Picture: David Crosling
Pat Lennon (centre). Picture: Ellen Smith
Pat Lennon (centre). Picture: Ellen Smith

A photo of “what appears to be a large rock of crystalline substance resting on digital scales” was found on the phone, together with text messages organising drug deals, the court heard.

Her drivers license had also expired.

On Tuesday, Brandman’s lawyer, David McKenna, said his client was trying to turn her life around, had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, and had only a “very minor” prior criminal history involving offences that took place more than seven years ago.

Magistrate Jarrod Williams questioned a statement by Brandman denying she sold drugs for money and instead “gave them away to friends”.

However, he said she had “excellent prospects of rehabilitation”.

He ordered her to report to Moorabbin Justice Centre by the end of Thursday as part of a 12-month community corrections order that also includes 100 hours of unpaid volunteer work.

Brandman’s former partner, De Iulio, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in May but was spared a conviction or jail.

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/drug-trafficker-hava-brandman-spared-jail-after-30g-ice-bust/news-story/1fdbef58783ef49caa526affaa827b68