A Wagga man arrested during a crackdown on drug dealing in licensed venues has pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including one with a maximum penalty of 20 years' jail.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Trent MacDonald, aged 23, was arrested by police officers from Strike Force Crestreef on Wednesday night after they executed a search warrant on his Ashmont home.
Strike Force Crestreef was established in July last year by Riverina Police District's Proactive Crime Team, Criminal Investigation Unit and Licencing Office, to investigate the supply of cocaine and MDMA in licensed premises in the Wagga CBD.
MacDonald appeared in Wagga Local Court via videolink on Thursday and pleaded guilty to nine charges including supplying indictable and commercial quantities of cocaine and possessing five grams of cannabis.
The charges MacDonald admitted to included selling a total of 5.88 grams of cocaine in the rear toilets at his workplace in Wagga's Victoria Hotel and at his Ashmont home to an undercover person working with police.
MacDonald also admitted to the charge of supplying a prohibited drug other than cannabis on an ongoing basis, due his multiple cocaine sales within a span of 30 days, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.
A police statement of facts said that MacDonald "used his position on staff at one of Wagga's busiest licensed premises to supply cocaine and spruiked that his employment gave him opportunity to do so".
The NSW Police Force's Acting Assistant Commissioner granted Strike Force Crestreeft permission to carry out a controlled operation, which allows authorised persons to engage in specific unlawful activities as part of a police investigation.
An undercover person entered the Victoria Hotel three times between March 11 and April 7 and purchased a 1-gram bag of cocaine for $350 on each occasion from MacDonald.
The bags tested positive for cocaine at a purity levels between 12.5 and 15.5 per cent.
An undercover person also contacted MacDonald via text message and arranged to purchase 3 grams of cocaine, which later showed a purity of 9.5 per cent, for $1050 at his Ashmont home.
Some of MacDonald's conversations with the undercover person were covertly recorded.
MacDonald's solicitor told Wagga Local Court on Thursday that his client would plead guilty to all charges.
The police prosecutor opposed bail prior to sentencing, telling the court that MacDonald had breached a conditional release order by committing serious offences.
"This was offending of an ongoing nature ... he used his employment to facilitate offending and there is nothing before the court to indicate that he would not continue to commit offences if granted bail," the prosecutor said.
"There is an unacceptable risk to the community."
MacDonald's solicitor said his client was facing serious charges but bail could be granted with appropriate conditions.
"He is a young man with only a limited prior involvement in criminal activities," the solicitor said.
Magistrate Christopher Halburd granted MacDonald bail.
"He boasted about using the access his employment gave him for the purpose of offending, however the police are well aware of it now," Magistrate Halburd said.
Magistrate Halburd ordered MacDonald to abide by a curfew between 8pm and 6am and to not enter any licensed premises while on bail.
The matter was adjourned until June 7 for sentencing.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters