Former Brisbane Lions player Jason Roe gets suspended sentence for cannabis supply

FORMER AFL star Jason Roe was chastised before being given an 18-month suspended prison sentence in the NT Supreme Court

NO BYLINE: AFL player Jason Roe has plead guilty to the possession and supply of more than 700g of cannabhas at the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

FORMER AFL star Jason Roe was chastised before being given an 18-month suspended prison sentence in the NT Supreme Court.

Roe, 31, faced a maximum 14 years behind bars when he pleaded guilty to one count of supplying a total 756g of cannabis — a commercial quantity — to another person.

Justice Stephen Southwood told the former Brisbane Lions player, who also mentored young indigenous sportsmen and was involved in the Territory’s Clontarf education program, that his “conduct was far more serious than a stupid mistake”.

“For most Aboriginal people in the NT football means hope and pride, it’s a powerful social agent that provides a vehicle for achievement for many disadvantaged young men,” he said.

“Most modern footballers are not role models — they are professional sportsmen who are well paid.

“By choosing to hold yourself up as a role model and failing to live up to that standard by (committing a drug offence) you have let a lot of people down.”

Roe has been banned from leaving the NT, taking drugs and drinking alcohol for a year, and must not commit another offence in he next 18 months or face actual prison time.

“That means no beer after the football or at a funeral,” Justice Southwood said.

“I do not expect to see you back here but if you fail to comply with the conditions of your sentence you will be back before me.”

Roe, who left court briskly without a word to the press, will be under Department of Correctional Services supervision.

The court heard he purchased five lots of cannabis and supplied it to a “footy mate”, who has not been charged, between January and March this year.