Daniel John Pearce, 30, sentenced for trafficking methamphetamine with mother’s phone

A man’s $20k+ drug trafficking scheme unravelled when a stolen car police were tracking led them to his home in Mount Louisa.

Daniel John Pearce sentenced in Townsville Supreme Court for trafficking meth. Picture: Facebook

Police discovered a man’s methamphetamine trafficking enterprise when they followed a stolen car to his location and went through his mobile which happened to be his mother’s.

His mother is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Daniel John Pearce was arrested following his “high-level street” dealing scheme that transpired between December 23, 2023 and April 16, 2024, prosecution officer Sophie Roseby said.

The now 30-year-old man who appeared in Townsville Supreme Court on Tuesday had a customer base of 28 people, made $28,873 over that time and was selling between 0.1g to 28g of meth.

He was also charged with selling marijuana and LSD.

To aggravate the offences the man was on parole after being sentenced in Townsville Magistrates Court for vehicle and drug-related offending in 2023.

“When he was placed into custody he made further phone calls to get family members to delete evidence of trafficking,” Ms Roseby said.

Defence barrister Michael Hibble instructed by Resolute Legal said his client had suffered a traumatic childhood having experienced abuse that led him to alcohol and drug use.

Additionally, Pearce had suffered significant injuries recently when he was run over by a car by his ex partner.

He said Pearce was employed on and off working as a mechanic apprentice, tree lopper and concreter and that he had completed a low-intensity substance intervention while behind bars.

The court was told the man had been sentenced in Townsville District Court in 2019 to two and a half years jail after for choking, suffocation and strangulation.

Justice David North highlighted that the trafficking was “fairly intense and concentrated” in such a short period of time.

“Your customer base was somewhat limited because you did not have your own mobile phone, you were using your mother’s mobile phone,” he said.

Pearce pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, drug supply and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He was sentenced to four years jail and given a parole eligibility date of August 13.

While the man had spent 365 days in custody so far, it was not declared as time already served.

Originally published as Daniel John Pearce, 30, sentenced for trafficking methamphetamine with mother’s phone