Yasmin Powell, 57, jailed for supplying 45kg of cannabis as part of organised crime gang
A DOTING grandma got roped into an organised and sophisticated drug syndicate and peddled more than $400,000 worth of cannabis from her house in Bakewell, the Supreme Court has heard
Crime and Court
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A DOTING grandma got roped into an organised and sophisticated drug syndicate and peddled more than $400,000 worth of cannabis from her house in Bakewell, the Supreme Court has heard.
Yasmin Powell, 57, pleaded guilty to supplying 45kg of cannabis between July 2017 and March 2018, having fallen in love with the syndicate’s alleged Darwin boss, James Weston.
Powell later learnt Weston was also dating another bit-player in the syndicate, Leanne Hayley, 51, who was last year sentenced to two year’s jail, suspended after time served, for her fleeting involvement with the syndicate.
The courts have previously heard Weston had been involved with an outlaw bikie gang although he and alleged syndicate boss Guisseppe Bruno Romeo have not entered pleas for their alleged roles in the plot.
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Powell’s lawyer, Shane McMaster, said on Monday his client was “not some sort of mafia matriarch”.
The 45kg she sold for the syndicate from a rental property in Bakewell amounted to a fraction of the 469.95kg the syndicate sent to Darwin by Greyhound Freight, although Chief Justice Michael Grant said 45kg was still “an awful lot of cannabis”.
The drugs Powell alone sold had a wholesale value of around $400,000 and police found $4250 in cash at her house during a raid.
Powell was unemployed at the time, other than her work as a drug dealer, and had “no lawful source of income”, the court heard.
NT Police dismantled the syndicate and arrested all of the major players in March 2018, after an investigation involving phone taps, listening bugs and a tracking device on Weston’s car.
A string of glowing character references described Powell as a “happy and selfless person although naive and overtrusting at times”, as having got involved in “out of character” offending and as a “wonderful and cheerful person to be around”.
Mr McMaster said Powell “doesn’t seek to minimise her role” in the syndicate and it was puzzling how a woman “really with no criminal history” could become involved with organised crime in her 50s.
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Chief Justice Grant sentenced Powell to four years jail, to be suspended after a year and nine months served.
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