Two years jail for man who ran drug trafficking business during COVID pandemic

While running a drug trafficking business, the court heard how a dealer roped in a pair of drug addicts to work for him. Why a judge believes the dealer ‘deserves harsh punishment’.

drug dealing generic

A man who ran a drug trafficking business selling meth has been sentenced to two years prison.

Kurt Johnhill Richardson, 41, was found guilty of trafficking in a controlled substance.

During recent sentencing in the Supreme Court in Burnie, Justice Tamara Jago said that Richardson’s trafficking took place between December 2019 and September 2020.

But she told the court she believed “the evidence establishes that there was a more concentrated period in which a substantial quantity of drugs were trafficked - predominantly between February and May 2020.”

Two of the people who were working for Richardson and selling drugs for him, Danelle Barker and Yvette Hills, were arrested in May 2020 after police caught the pair with 30.4 grams of methylamphetamine.

Both women were later handed suspended sentences.

The pair were also required to give evidence during Richardson’s trial.

Supreme Court Justice Tamara Jago. Picture: Supplied.

While Justice Jago said she found Hills “to be an impressive witness,” she was not impressed with Barker.

“It was obvious from the way in which Ms Barker gave evidence that she still had a strong allegiance to the defendant,” she said.

“Her evidence on trial was very different to that which she had originally provided to police. I have no hesitation in concluding that the evidence she gave at trial was diluted significantly in an endeavour to assist the defendant.

“I am satisfied that the account she originally gave to the police, which was tendered on the trial as a prior inconsistent statement in the form of a record of interview and a statutory declaration, was, in fact, the truth.”

Justice Jago said she was satisfied the drug trafficking business Richardson ran was a profitable one.

“The defendant engaged in a business of dealing in and selling an insidious drug that causes great harm in our community for financial gain.

“It went on for a relatively substantial period and involved significant quantities of the drug.

“It is well established that those who control operations and benefit through profits commit crimes at the higher end of the scale of seriousness.

“The defendant’s moral culpability is high, and his conduct deserves harsh punishment.”

Burnie Supreme and Magisterial Courts

In addition to his two-year jail sentence, Richardson was also fined $16,375.

“The defendant engaged in what was a profitable business in dealing in an insidious drug that causes great harm in our community,” Justice Jago said.

“He involved others in his business and, in so doing, exploited their vulnerabilities as drug addicts.

“Put simply, those who seek to profit from the dissemination of this drug into our community should expect to receive harsh punishment.”

Richardson will be eligible for parole after he has served a year of his prison sentence.