A Tasmanian carpenter has avoided jail after running a drug trafficking business that largely supplied his own workmates.
Rodney Kaye McCulloch, 37, pleaded guilty to trafficking in controlled substances, along with a string of drug and property offences.
Justice Michael Brett sentenced him on September 11 to 18 months in jail, wholly suspended for 18 months.
The court heard McCulloch sold MDMA, cannabis and methamphetamine to about 20 customers, most of them work colleagues, between March 2022 and August 2023.
Police uncovered the business when they searched his home on August 17, 2023.
They found small amounts of drugs, smoking pipes, $4,845 in cash and other paraphernalia, along with a phone containing messages about drug sales.
Justice Brett said bank records showed McCulloch made more than 200 transactions worth $38,000 over the period, all accepted as proceeds of drug sales.
The judge said the trafficking was at a “relatively modest level” but had been sustained and consistent over a significant period.
The court heard McCulloch was 31 when he began offending and had a limited criminal history, including a suspended sentence in 2010 for aggravated burglary and assault.
Justice Brett said McCulloch had left school after Grade 10 and completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner.
The judge said McCulloch had started regularly using methamphetamine and cannabis in the years before the offending, describing it as a form of self-medication that led to addiction.
He had also developed a gambling problem and began selling drugs to fund his addictions, the court heard.
Justice Brett said that despite holding down full-time work, McCulloch had made no real profit and was “quite impecunious”.
“I accept that all of your money, from working and from the trafficking, has been consumed by your drug and gambling addictions,” the judge said.
Justice Brett said drug trafficking spread illegal drugs through the community and that general deterrence was an important consideration.
However, he accepted McCulloch was capable of rehabilitation if he stayed off drugs.
The suspended sentence includes 18 months of probation, with conditions requiring drug treatment, testing and completion of an addiction program.
Justice Brett also ordered the $4,845 be forfeited to the state and imposed a pecuniary penalty of $33,155.
