Martin Buttenshaw, 47, of Mooroopna, and Kim Maree Austin, 37, of Shepparton, pleaded guilty in the County Court to trafficking a large commercial quantity of a drug of dependence.
Buttenshaw also pleaded guilty to trafficking a drug of dependence and a summary charge of dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
Austin also pleaded guilty to the summary charge of failing to comply with a direction to assist police by giving them the passcode to her mobile phone.
The court heard how the pair bought 986.2g of methamphetamines from Sydney using $90,000 Buttenshaw had borrowed from his father.
Buttenshaw’s father was to receive the money back plus an extra $5000, while Buttenshaw was to receive $5000 for transporting the drugs from Sydney back to Victoria.
Buttenshaw bought the drugs in Sydney on April 15 last year and Austin met him in Woomagarma — about 50km north-east of Albury — the following day and brought him back to Mooroopna where police picked them up 20 seconds after they pulled into the driveway at Buttenshaw’s home.
A supermarket shopping bag containing the drugs — at 84 per cent purity — was in the car, while Buttenshaw also had $4593.70 in his pocket, which police said was the proceeds of crime.
In the lead-up to the purchase of the drugs in Sydney, police had tapped Buttenshaw’s telephone where they gathered evidence of the drug trafficking enterprise the pair had been running.
The court also heard how Buttenshaw sourced 25 litres of the drug GHB, valued at $25,000, which he was looking to sell, but found out the drugs were contaminated and could not be sold.
The court was told Austin was charged with trafficking a total of 1322.2g of methamphetamines — the 986.2g from Sydney plus another 326g discovered through the phone intercepts.
Buttenshaw was charged with trafficking a total of 1248g of drugs, including the 986.2g from Sydney and another 262.01g discovered through the phone intercepts.
The court heard that anything more than 750g of drugs that were not pure was considered a large commercial quantity.
In sentencing the pair, Judge Richard Maidment spoke of the “serious depravation” Austin had in her childhood which she said “no doubt contributed to her abusing methamphetamines at a young age”.
Judge Maidment said he hoped the separation Austin had from her children by being in prison would help reduce the risk of her offending again in the future.
In sentencing Buttenshaw, Judge Maidment noted he had a good upbringing but had started using amphetamines and later methamphetamines when he was a truck driver.
He said he accepted Buttenshaw’s drug trafficking rose out of his addiction and was intended to finance his drug habit, with the judge labelling his and Austin’s drug syndicate as “not having sophistication” and “haphazard”.
He also noted Buttenshaw had a prior conviction for trafficking methamphetamines in 2016.
However, Judge Maidment was pleased Buttenshaw had remained drug free while in custody, had a strong work history, and had completed drug courses while in jail.
In handing down the sentences, Judge Maidment said while parity of sentences between co-offenders who were “equally involved and capable” should ordinarily result in the same or a similar sentence, in this case Buttenshaw did not have the same mitigating factors as Austin.
Austin was sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison, and will be eligible for parole after six years and 10 months.
Buttenshaw was sentenced to 11 years and nine months in prison, but will be able to apply for parole after seven years and eight months.
The 591 days the pair has served in pre-sentence detention will count as time already served.
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