Drug dealer, 62, used profits on ‘gambling’

KIM WATERS
A 62-year-old man who trafficked more than $500 of cannabis a week was trying pay off $20,000 in gambling debts, a court heard this week.
Ocean Grove’s Danny Steven faced two charges of trafficking cannabis in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Rowan Mifsud told the court officers caught Steven selling cannabis two days after he started a credit bail program for two previous convictions for drug trafficking.
Snr Const Mifsud said police witnessed Steven parked at Ocean Grove’s Shell petrol station with two males at 9.35pm on February 8.
Police asked Steven to empty his pockets and found nine bags containing 22.7 grams of marijuana.
Snr Const Mifsud said on March 14 police watched a male step out of a silver Toyota and into Steven’s car at a boat ramp on March 14. P police approached the men and found $90 in cash, six separate bags of marijuana and three cannabis cigarettes.
After arresting Steven they found at his home another two boxes of cannabis, a small bowl of the drug, a set of scales and a mobile phone with “several messages relating to the sale of drugs”.
Snr Const Mifsud told the court Steven made “no comment” about trafficking, saying the cannabis was for personal use.
Police took Steven into custody on May 5 after witnessing him entering and leaving a house on Ocean Grove’s The Esplanade.
Snr Const Mifsud said police found six plastic bags of cannabis, $155 and a mobile phone inside the home.
“He admitted…he buys a weekly amount of $500 and sells it for a profit.”
Steven’s lawyer, Ms Fridey, said her client was starting the credit bail program when “various friends” approached him for cannabis.
“He said no,” Ms Fridey said.
“He felt obliged to provide a small amount of cannabis…to them. (They were) people he knew.”
Ms Fridey said Steven had a “long-term addiction to drugs” and a gambling problem.
He was a “very intelligent man” who had lived with his parents for 25 years, the court heard.
Magistrate Ian von Einem described Steven’s behaviour as “fairly contemptible”. Mr von Einem ordered an assessment for an intensive corrections order before scheduling Steven for sentencing on Friday.