How these street drug dealers ended up on a path to prison: 11 case studies from the SA courts

Police are confident they have made a significant dent in the local drug supply chain, with singular street dealers being arrested in their droves. See the list.

“Flexible and responsive” street drug dealers have been unaffected by Covid-19 as 1275 people were charged with dealing and supply offences in 2020 alone, new figures reveal.

But police are confident they have made significant dent in the local drug supply chain which will have ramifications in the coming years.

An SA Police spokeswoman said the main focus of police had been attacking local motorcycle gangs, with a particular emphasis on the Nomads and Comanchero gangs.

While the focus has been on larger organised crime groups, singular street dealers are being arrested in droves and appearing before the courts on a daily basis.

Figures provided by police show 908 people were charged with basic trafficking and a further 31 for supplying or administering a drug to another person.

That is an increase of 172 – or just over three more arrests per week – on the previous year, when 736 people were arrested for drug trafficking.

“The illicit drug market is flexible and responsive to the supply and demand fluctuations,” a police spokeswoman said.

“SA Police are always seeking to disrupt and disable the illicit drug trade wherever possible and it is not always possible to measure our effectiveness by arrests and seizures alone as these criteria only form part of our outcomes within the state.”

She said a focus of national and state law enforcement was the prevention of large quantities of drugs from arriving in Australia.

“We are confident that we have made some significant inroads to quell the local supply chain. The multijurisdictional/international Operation Ironside is a clear example of how we often operate in a broader context to have a localised impact,” she said.

The number of people charged with trafficking in large commercial quantities of controlled drug more than doubled from 65 in 2019 to 166 in 2020.

Judge Liesl Chapman said in a recent sentencing that methamphetamine was “ruining lives”.

“It means relationships break down and means that people will be going in and out of jail,” she said.

Here are the stories of 11 people convicted of serious drug offences by SA courts this year. All received a prison sentence but while six had to serve their time behind bars, five were given one last chance to stay out of custody.

Timothy Pitt and Joel Vasilakis received a suspended sentence for plotting to import cocaine, while Ryan Bleach, Ian Davidson and Natasha Cocks were all given immediate jail sentences after being convicted of dealing drugs. Artwork: Steve Grice

IAN ASHLEY DAVIDSON

The 33-year-old was caught in possession of 0.72 grams of meth and with messages on his phone consistent with a “busy, street-level” drug dealer.

A boilermaker by trade, Ian Ashley Davidson caught the attention of the police when they saw a vehicle stop at Bastian Crescent in Whyalla at 12.20am on January 13 last year.

The address had previously been flagged for a drug warning.

Two men left the house in a car and when police stopped them, Davidson – a passenger in the car – attempted to hide 0.72g of crystal meth and passed the drugs to the driver.

The drugs, as well as a black money tin that contained a glass pipe, pocket scales and empty plastic bags, were found during a search of the car. The tin belonged to Davidson.

Judge Simon Stretton said messages found on Davidson’s phone were consistent with a “busy, street-level dealer of illicit drugs” and his sales were “extensively for profit and occasionally on credit”.

Ian Ashley Davidson was sentenced to three years prison, with an 18-month non-parole period. Picture: Facebook

He said Davidson claimed the drugs were for personal use and he consumed roughly 0.02g of meth a day for about two years, following a relationship breakdown that saw him lose his job.

Judge Stretton said the events “left you feeling hopeless and resulted in you starting to take methamphetamine”.

Between 2006 and 2015, Davidson received two suspended sentences for serious criminal trespass and assault, but that did not dissuade him from making poor choices, Judge Stretton said.

Davidson was sentenced to three years in prison with an 18-month non-parole period, after being found guilty of trafficking in a controlled drug.

Judge Stretton said methamphetamine addiction “wrecks the life of the addict and the addict so often then wrecks the lives of those around them”.

“It causes great disruption in the South Australian community. This court sees that every week of the year,” he said.

SHAAN RUTH CASEY

A woman found with nearly 60 grams of meth secreted in her vagina and anus in press-sealed bags started taking drugs to treat ongoing physical pain.

Shaan Ruth Casey, 34, faced the District Court on June 15 charged with three counts of trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine.

Police were on their way to search a property in Elizabeth Downs on December 22 when they pulled over a vehicle registered in the name of Casey’s co-accused, who was also the occupant of the house.

“The officer searched the offender and found 32.5g of cocaine in a clear plastic tub located in the front pocket of the jumper she was wearing,” Judge Paul Cuthbertson said.

They uncovered more than $3500 on Casey’s person, and $3570 in her handbag.

“The offender informed police that she wished to disclose something, a female police officer attended and conducted a further search,” Judge Cuthbertson said.

“Two press-sealed bags containing 28g and 27g of methamphetamine were found secreted separately in her vagina and anus.”

A search of the Elizabeth Downs house uncovered digital scales, and a notebook tick list which indicated further drug sales.

Police attended the address again on February 21 and exercised a search warrant in an unrelated investigation.

“During the search of a converted garage at the premises, police located a lockable storage compartment which contained 10g of methylamphetamine stored in a plastic resealable bag,” Judge Cuthbertson said. They also found $1800 in Casey’s bedroom.

Casey was in a motor vehicle accident in February 2020 and suffers ongoing pain as a result of the injuries she sustained.

“The quantities are significant, 32.5g of cocaine and a total of 55.8g of methamphetamine have a substantial street value and are well beyond the range of personal use,” Judge Cuthbertson said.

Casey was sentenced to two years and seven months behind bars, with a non-parole period of 15 months.

JOHNNY ZAFIROPOULOS

Johnny Zafiropoulous’s spiralling use of recreational drugs started in his teens after he discovered “all the cool kids” were using them.

The 24-year-old was sentenced for four counts of trafficking various drugs, one count of possessing drugs and another count of cultivating cannabis in the District Court on June 28.

Police attended his home in April 2020, acting on information from the public, and found two cannabis plants growing in the backyard.

“Police entered the offender’s bedroom and witnessed the offender attempting to conceal a bag … of white powder in his pants after the offender’s mother called out that the police had arrived at the premises,” Judge Paul Cuthbertson said.

“Upon searching the bedroom, police found various drugs in press-sealed bags including cannabis, MDMA, cocaine and other tablets, as well as $1780 cash in a black and white Adidas bum bag.”

Johnny Zafiropoulos was sentenced for four counts of drug trafficking. Picture: Facebook

Zafiropoulos’s phone was seized, where police found a list of names with numbers indicative of a drug tick list. The total value of the controlled substances in his possession was estimated at more than $12,000.

“He started to consume cannabis at 14 years of age and was a daily smoker at 16, with his heaviest usage involving smoking more than half an ounce of cannabis a week,” Judge Cuthbertson said.

“(He) began using cocaine at age 17 … and by the age of 21 was using cocaine most days of the week.

“He has admitted that he began using drugs as it appeared to him that all the ‘cool kids’ were using drugs.”

Zafiropoulos received a suspended sentence of three years and 10 months, with a two-year non-parole period and strict bail conditions. He also had to pay a $2550 fine.

“The fear of incarceration hanging over his head will act as an effective personal deterrent for reoffending,” Mr Cuthbertson said.

“He has demonstrated remorse for his offending and has developed some insight that the current offending was due to poor decision-making, peer pressure, social immaturity and socialising with the wrong crowd.”

RYAN JOEL BLEACH

An ill-timed text message revealing his role in selling drugs was Ryan Joel Bleach’s undoing.

The Blakeview man, 32, was pulled up in a dark Holden Calais on June 12, 2020, when police were checking that he was complying with his bail agreement from previous offences.

He was arrested as he was disqualified from driving at the time.

“Upon his arrest, the offender placed his mobile phone on the roof of his car. The phone was unlocked and open on the screen was messaging relating to the sale of the drugs,” Judge Paul Cuthbertson said.

Police searched Bleach’s car and found a 2L Coca Cola bottle containing 891 grams of 1,4-Butanediol, a form of liquid fantasy, and another 577g of the substance in a separate container.

A search of his property uncovered resealable plastic bags, an ice pipe, two drug tick lists, electronic scales and a 1kg plastic bag containing a known meth cutting agent.

They also uncovered an air rifle which had been missing since 2008.

Bleach does not hold a firearms licence.

Ryan Bleach was sentenced to three years and five months in jail by the District Court. Picture: Facebook

The spray painter has three children aged 8, 9 and 11 to three mothers, and lost his job due to his spiralling drug addiction.

“As a result of losing his employment, the offender’s drug use increased and he began to purchase larger amounts upfront with the intention of onselling those drugs to fund his own addiction and to supplement the income he was no longer receiving while unemployed,” Judge Cuthbertson said.

Bleach pleaded guilty to two drug trafficking charges and possessing a category 1 firearm without a licence.

He was sentenced to three years and five months in jail, with a non-parole period of two years.

ALLAN WAYNE JACKSON

An “impoverished” drug dealer’s life went downhill after his brief service with the army more than 20 years ago.

Allan Wayne Jackson was sentenced in the District Court for trafficking meth – a breach of his good behaviour bond for previous aggravated assault and theft offences committed in 2018.

Police attended the 47-year-old’s home on June 2, 2019, and found seven press-sealed bags containing meth on a chair. They also found two sets of digital scales.

“By committing the trafficking offence you breached a bond,” Judge Adam Kimber said.

“Your breach was a serious one, you trafficked in a drug which causes great social harm. The breach is not trivial, there are no proper grounds to excuse this.

“I will sentence you on the basis that you were a relatively impoverished street-level dealer selling to support your own use.”

Jackson joined the army at age 17, and was dishonourably discharged after three years.

“After leaving the army your life went downhill, you became an alcoholic, you developed what your counsel referred to as a needle problem,” he said.

The convicted rapist was sentenced to nearly four years behind bars, with a two-and-a-half-year non-parole period.

WARWICK ARMSTRONG

A former Ironman competitor and surf lifesaving coach was growing a commercial quantity of cannabis at his Port Noarlunga home for at least six months before being busted.

Warwick Armstrong was sentenced in the District Court after police raided his southern suburbs home on October 23, 2020, and uncovered eight cannabis plants being grown hydroponically.

He was charged with cultivating a controlled plant, trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug, possessing prescribed equipment and abstract or divert electricity from a power system.

“In the living room of the house there were air drying nets suspended from the ceiling, which … held over 31.19kg of wet female flowering material, which would have yielded a dried weight of some 7.79kg,” Judge Rauf Soulio said.

Police also uncovered multiple other pieces of equipment consistent with cultivating cannabis including lamps, light shade and a carbon filter.

“You also pleaded guilty to diverting electricity from a power system without proper authority,” Judge Soulio said.

Armstrong, 44, was approached by a person last year and asked to cultivate a crop of cannabis at his house.

Warwick Armstrong was charged with drug trafficking offences and cultivating cannabis. Picture: Facebook

“That person apparently supplied the necessary equipment, nutrients and instructions,” Judge Soulio said.

“You were to grow, harvest and dry the crop before delivering it to that person, you were to receive half the proceeds of sale … and half in cannabis product.”

Judge Soulio said Armstrong had been smoking THC and CBD oil every night for at least six months before his arrest to alleviate anxiety and depression.

“You are a strong athlete, had lifelong involvement in the Port Noarlunga Surf Lifesaving Club, where among other things you coached seniors, competed in Ironman competitions, and served as a surf lifesaver,” he said.

Armstrong was sentenced to two years, nine months and five days in jail, but the sentence was suspended once he signed a two-year good behaviour bond due to his prospects of rehabilitating, and his positive impact on the community.

NATASHA COCKS

A former personal trainer whose life descended into a haze of addiction wept as a judge said it was “a tragedy” she had trafficked in methamphetamine while her three children were living in the same house.

Natasha Cocks, 31, faced the District Court in August where she was jailed for dealing MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) to a man – a transaction that ended in tragedy.

Judge Simon Stretton told the court that Cocks was investigated after the overdose death of Brad Cooper on November 1, 2019.

“Text messages established that you were dealing drugs to him on a regular basis and on that day supplied him with a drug he took, which then killed him,” he said during sentencing.

Police raided Cocks’ Morphett Vale house on April 14 last year.

“They discovered you were trafficking both methamphetamine and cannabis … you were also detected with $3205 cash,” Judge Stretton said.

Police also found a significant amount of resealable bags, ice pipes and scales.

They analysed Cocks’ phone and “that analysis established that you are a busy street-level dealer of both cannabis and methamphetamine to a number of customers on an ongoing basis”, Judge Stretton said.

Natasha Cocks was a personal trainer but is now in jail for drug trafficking. Picture: Facebook

He said there was an element of commerciality to Cocks’ trafficking, as well as selling to fund her own methamphetamine addiction, which developed after she suffered back pain and mental health issues.

Cocks had pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and supplying drugs, and had previously run a personal training business but was now a stay-at-home mother of three children.

Judge Stretton said drugs “cause carnage in our community”.

“The consequence of that supply was calamitous to Mr Cooper and no doubt his family, his friends and other people who cared for him,” he said.

“You did not become aware that the drugs had killed him until five months later when police spoke to you.”

Judge Stretton said he accepted Cocks was remorseful about Mr Cooper’s death.

He sentenced her to jail for four years and three months, with a non-parole period of two years.

“Your custody will tragically, significantly impact your young family, particularly your youngest child,” Judge Stretton said.

STACEY HAZEL ROBYN LOWE

A young woman who performed for the Pope and represented Australia in judo was consumed by a life of violence and drug use when she begun associating with bikies, a judge has said.

But while Stacey Hazel Robyn Lowe’s late teens and 20s were dominated by drug use, culminating in her arrest for trafficking in methamphetamine, Judge Paul Slattery said not all hope was lost.

During her sentencing for trafficking in a controlled drug, Judge Slattery said he took solace from the 32-year old’s rehabilitation while behind bars and desire to give back to society by completing community service.

The court heard during sentencing submissions last month Lowe had suffered a childhood frequented by acts of abuse and violence.

“At school you had issues with aggression and fighting, you said you were wary of men,” Judge Slattery said.

“You were diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and placed on a variety of medications.

“Despite this you were a high achiever in the areas of judo, where you represented Australia, and singing, where you were invited to sing for the Pope and were featured on a recording with John Farnham.

“Your involvement with the choir ended when your father’s cheque to pay fees bounced.”

In her mid-teens, Lowe became linked to a gang where her use of prescription medication developed into illicit drug use.

Stacey Hazel Robyn Lowe when she faced the District Court for a firearms charge in 2016. Picture: Greg Higgs

In 2016, Lowe was spared jail after police found a gun in her car which she said a client had left behind.

On June 8, 2020, police had Lowe under surveillance when she left a North Terrace hotel and handed over two grams of methamphetamine to the driver of a car.

The driver was later stopped and said he had purchased the drugs for $400 over the Discord app.

Three days later, Lowe was arrested after a struggle near her car in the hotel carpark.

Police found more than 90g of methamphetamine secreted around the car, including in the boot and in a glasses case sewn into the lining of a baby chair in the back seat of the car.

Lowe told police she had been stockpiling the drug during the Covid-19 pandemic and had harboured a belief that methamphetamine would prevent her getting the virus.

Lowe spent more than a year in custody before appearing before the court for sentence last month.

Lowe was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, reduced by more than a year for her time in custody.

Judge Slatter imposed a non-parole period of one year and four months.

MATTHEW JAMES CARRICK

He was trading meth at home – with his then five-year-old daughter just rooms away – to feed his own addiction to the drug.

Matthew James Carrick, 32, descended in to the dark world of methamphetamine use following the death of his disabled brother.

Police found eight presale bags containing 5.25 grams of crystal meth and a plastic tub containing 2.37g of the same substance upon searching his bedroom in May last year.

The search also uncovered a taser, machete and extendible baton in the bedroom.

He was charged with trafficking in a controlled drug.

Matthew James Carrick, 32, received a suspended sentence for dealing methamphetamine. Picture: Facebook

He had been selling meth since January 2020, to support his own use, but also for profit, Judge Adam Kimber said during Carrick’s sentencing.

He was dealing amounts of up to 3.5g – or an eight-ball – and had a tick list with one client owing $2200.

When sentencing Carrick, Judge Kimber accounted for the fact that Carrick’s daughter had only recently rekindled a relationship with her mother and nobody could care for his daughter should he be imprisoned.

Due to that fact and his early guilty plea, Carrick received a suspended sentence of two years, eight months and 13 days, with a $200 good behaviour bond.

Judge Kimber also confiscated $3000 in profit from Carrick’s sales.

JOEL VASILAKIS AND TIMOTHY PITT

A former private school boy bullied for his wealth and his friend, the son of a pastor who felt he had disappointed his parents, have dodged jail for their roles in a plan to import cocaine from the USA.

Joel Andrew Vasilakis and Timothy Michael Pitt, both now in their thirties, co-owned a luxury car dealership and lived together at an eastern suburbs “party house” when they were arrested in August 2018.

A third man, 23-year-old Jasper James Marshall, was last year jailed for his role in the scheme after pleading guilty to importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug and trafficking a controlled drug.

Sentencing Vasilakis and Pitt this month, Judge Liesl Chapman said Marshall leased five post office boxes in suburban Adelaide in early 2018.

In May of that year, packages were sent to Adelaide from Los Angeles, but they were intercepted by the Australian Border Force and found to contain cocaine in heat-sealed bags.

A total of 275 grams of pure cocaine was found, which had a street value of up to $110,000.

Lawyers for Vasilakis and Pitt had argued their clients’ roles were lesser than Marshall’s, and involved sourcing postal addresses and tracking the packages after they were sent.

Judge Chapman said the breakdown of responsibility was not completely clear, but accepted the younger man had more involvement in the plot.

Joel Vasilakis outside the District Court. Picture: Mark Brake

Timothy Pitt outside the District Court. Picture: Mark Brake

In deciding not to jail the pair, she said she had given consideration to their personal circumstances, remorse and the significant progress made by each in their rehabilitation.

She said Pitt, 33, originally of Mount Gambier, had grown up feeling the local community had “extremely high expectations” of him because of his parents’ “reputation and social profile”.

“At school, you were bullied for being a rich kid and your father driving nice cars,” she said.

The court heard Pitt moved to Adelaide to attend boarding school, and developed a $1500 per week cocaine habit after he became part of Adelaide’s “affluent social scene”.

He and Vasilakis purchased a car dealership in 2017 while they were living together at a St Peters property owned by Pitt’s father.

The pair have now “gone separate ways” and Pitt has bought out Vasilakis’ share of the business.

Turning to Vasilakis, Judge Chapman said the 37-year-old is the son of a long-serving Pentecostal Christian Church minister, and the church played a “significant role” in his life until he left aged 24.

“You were self-conscious at school because your family were high-profile members of the church,” she said.

“You say your parents were disappointed in your Year 12 results … you thought your parents were judgmental of your academic failure.”

Vasilakis, who purchased a truck and started a transport business, saw drugs as “forbidden fruit” and said partying became his life after he shunned his faith.

After both men pleaded guilty to importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug and trafficking in a controlled drug, Judge Chapman handed Pitt a sentence of two years, five months, and Vasilakis of three years.

But she said sending the pair to jail would be of no benefit to them or the community.

Under a Commonwealth order, she ordered that both be immediately released on the condition that they be of good behaviour for the next three years.

If you would like to speak to someone about an alcohol or drug problem contact the Alcohol and Drug Information Service on 1300 13 13 40 or visit knowyouroptions.sa.gov.au

Originally published as How these street drug dealers ended up on a path to prison: 11 case studies from the SA courts