Cocaine trafficker Gene Isaac Shaw sentenced to five years jail

A Brisbane man has been sentenced for his role in a sophisticated cocaine syndicate where he made $150,000 in nine months while being unemployed.

Gene Isaac Shaw.

A cocaine syndicate trafficker first came to the attention of cops when they found the expensive drug hidden in a pencil case at his unit in a prestigious suburb of Brisbane.

When police searched Gene Isaac Shaw’s unit in Hamilton they found 25 grams of pure cocaine worth an estimated $17,000 in October 2020 but opted not to charge him.

Instead police launched a broader operation into drug dealing with South East Queensland which uncovered a trafficking syndicate that Shaw and others were involved in, Brisbane’s Supreme Court heard on Thursday.

Syndicate members regularly frequented an address in Albion and a unit in Spring Hill, where drugs were stored and meetings were held, the court heard.

Shaw, now 35, initially operated the Spring Hill unit but in September 2021 he handed it over to two colleagues. They set up a company to implement an elaborate payroll scheme to allow the proceeds of trafficking to be recorded as wage or super payments and money was transferred through the company to various people in the syndicate, the court heard.

Crown prosecutor Luke Smoothy said about $112,000 in money laundering proceeds were paid into Shaw’s account while during the trafficking period of almost nine months records showed he received an unexplained income of $42,000. During that time he was unemployed living in a $650 a week unit.

Mr Smoothy said Shaw’s role in the syndicate was predominantly supplying coke in 1 to 3.5g amounts to end users. He had a regular customer base of 62 people. Shaw was arrested in March 2022.

He pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine from February to November 2021, money laundering from September 2020 to November 2021 and possessing cocaine at Hamilton in October 2020.

His barrister Mal Harrison said Shaw had made great strides in his rehabilitation, that he started even before his arrest, which was detailed in character references and his client’s letter to the court.

“This is an incredibly significant turnaround in one’s life, and it’s prior to police intervention,” Mr Harrison, instructed by Cullen Lawyers, said.

He said his client’s drug dependency explained how he got involved with the syndicate.

Shaw subsequently attended drug rehabilitation programs and was “brutally honest” with his doctor admitting to a number of relapses over the years.

Mr Harrison sought a sentence that did not involve actual custody.

Justice Michael Copley accepted Shaw had been making genuine attempts at rehabilitation and his risk of reoffending was low if he continued that and avoided associating with people involved in the drug scene. The court heard another syndicate member – personal trainer Christian Bong Collado – was sentenced earlier this year.

Justice Copley said Shaw had enjoyed a good upbringing and was still supported by his parents who attended the sentence.

“But your trafficking was considerable, and the fact that there was the 40 odd thousand in your bank account of unexplained income demonstrates that,” he said.

Shaw was sentenced to five years jail to be suspended after 12 months.

Originally published as Cocaine trafficker Gene Isaac Shaw sentenced to five years jail