Koorana Crocodile Farm worker Kurt Benjamin Jaspers trafficked marijuana for two months

A young reptile breeder’s drug trafficking profits were chewed up paying for ounce a day addiction. Read here why he feared going to prison.

A drug trafficker who has since changed careers to work at a crocodile farm was “terrified of the prospect of going to actual jail”, a court has heard.

Kurt Benjamin Jaspers, 22, pleaded guilty on September 23 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of trafficking an illicit drug, two of possessing a dangerous drug, one of possessing drug utensils and one of possessing items suspected of being used in the commission of a crime.

Crown prosecutor Maryam Yousufzai said Jaspers’s partner Katrina Debrincat, who was sentenced in August for her sole operator drug trafficking business, was present when police raided their residence on August 16, 2021, and a mobile phone uncovered Jaspers’s offending.

She said the phone showed Jaspers had trafficked marijuana for a period of eight weeks and four days between June 16, 2021, and August 17, 2021.

Kurt Benjamin Jaspers, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking an illicit drug, two of possessing a dangerous drug, one of possessing drug utensils and one of possessing items suspected of being used in the commission of a crime.

Ms Yousufzai said Jaspers carried out 43 supplies to 13 customers using Facebook messenger and SMSs to arrange sales.

She said Jaspers supplied at least 460.2g of eight different strains of marijuana, making at least $6,540.

Ms Yousufzai said police seized 89.9g of marijuana during the raid, along with four water pipes, two grinders, five tins which had previously held marijuana, an assortment of other pipes, electric scales and two boxes of clip-seal bags.

She said the messages showed Jaspers made it clear he wanted to make money from the sales.

After his arrest on September 13 for the trafficking, Jaspers was released on bail.

He was intercepted for a licence check and a search of the vehicle revealed he was in possession of 30g of marijuana in his short’s pocket.

Defence barrister Jordan Ahlstrand said Jaspers had a disruptive childhood, being cared for by his mother until he was four-years-old and then, due to his mother’s drugs and alcohol issues, he was cared for by his grandfather.

He said Jaspers’s grandfather died when Jaspers was eight years old and Jaspers returned to his mother’s care.

Mr Ahlstrand said Jaspers’s mother has overcome her issues and was now head chef at a Rockhampton coffee shop.

He said Jaspers, who is small in statue, started smoking marijuana recreationally when he was 15.

“By 17, he was using a significant amount of marijuana on a daily basis,” Mr Ahlstrand said.

“At the time of trafficking, it wasn’t uncommon for him to consume up to an ounce a day.

“He has been terrified at the prospect of going to actual jail due to his slight build.”

Ms Debrincat was sentenced to three years prison, suspended after serving three months and operational for three years.

Katrina Frances Lee Debrincat, 36, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton District Court on August 17 to one count of trafficking a dangerous drugs.

Mr Ahlstrand said Jaspers had previously been in a three-year relationship before entering the relationship with Debrincat who is 14 years his senior.

He said Jaspers use to breed reptiles for commercial gain but found that too expensive.

Mr Ahlstrand said Jaspers secure employment at Koorana Crocodile Farm five months ago.

Judge Jeff Clarke sentenced Jaspers, who had been before Gladstone and Rockhampton magistrates courts twice in the past for possessing drugs or utensils, to two years prison with immediate parole and fined $750.

Originally published as Koorana Crocodile Farm worker Kurt Benjamin Jaspers trafficked marijuana for two months