Duc Van Nguyen pleads guilty to drug trafficking offences committed while on parole for previous drug conviction

The owner and chef at a once-popular restaurant has pleaded guilty to selling drugs, while already on parole for drug trafficking.

A FORMER Sandy Bay restaurateur who was jailed for more than four years for drug trafficking has pleaded guilty to more drug offences which were committed when he was released on parole last year.

Duc Van Nguyen had been the chef and owner of Duc’s Asian Cuisine, which collapsed in 2017, while he was in prison.

He started buying drugs in association with a circle of friends, but by 2015-16 he was involved in a commercial trade.

In March 2018, Justice Pierre Slicer sentenced Van Nguyen — who had been in custody since August 2016 — to four years and nine months in prison for trafficking in a controlled substance and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

With a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years, he became eligible for parole in early 2019 and he was released in April.

Crown Prosecutor Jane Ansell told Justice Michael Brett in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Monday Van Nguyen resumed trafficking soon after being released on parole, delivering them throughout the greater Hobart area in his car.

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The 36-year-old has pleaded guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance and dealing with the proceeds of crime

The court heard in July 2019, policed searched Van Nguyen’s Sandy Bay home and found ice as well as $6500 concealed behind the bathroom mirror.

The Crown alleges text messages from one of his phones showed drug deals being organised dated back until at least June 21.

It was also alleged since his release from prison he had recovered $3000 from people who owed him drug money before his imprisonment.

Mrs Ansell said Van Nguyen was “down the chain of command” in the drug trafficking trade.

Van Nguyen’s lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi said his father had been murdered when he was three and he and his mother came to Australia when Van Nguyen was nine years old.

Mr Cangelosi said his client was remorseful for reoffending and that people would approach him as he was known to have dealt drugs in the past assuming he would have some to sell again.

He said Van Nguyen “did not leave prison with the intention of resuming trafficking.”

Mr Cangelosi said he was dealing to about five-to-six people who he already knew and it was not on the same level of trafficking as what he had previously been sentenced for.

He said Van Nguyen had not been able to see his newborn baby while in custody due to COVID-19 prison visitation restrictions and had a good prospect of being rehabilitated.

“He operated a successful business and was an accomplished chef,” Mr Cangelosi said.

Justice Brett adjourned the matter for sentencing next Monday.