R v Forero Gomez; R v Le; R v Pham; R v Stephens [2021] NSWDC 131

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Forero Gomez; R v Le; R v Pham; R v Stephens [2021] NSWDC 131 Hearing dates: 31 March 2021 Decision date: 22 April 2021 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Haesler SC DCJ Decision: Forero-Gomez: Sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 6 years 3 months. Non-parole period of 3 years 6 months. Le: Sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 4 years 6 months. Non-parole period of 2 years 8 months. Pham: Sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 4 years 6 months. Non-parole period of 2 years 6 months Stephens: Sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 4 years 6 months. Non-parole period of 2 years 3 months. Catchwords: CRIME – Manufacture prohibited drug >= large commercial quantity - Take part manufacture prohibited drug >= large commercial quantity SENTENCING - Relevant factors on sentence - multiple offenders - early guilty pleas - one offender entered a late plea - a large commercial quantity illicit drugs converted into marketable form - role of each offender- reasons for distinguishing one from the other – all labourers for hire - short term role - critical to manufacture process - anyone could have done the job no special skills required – aware of nature of operation – parity - modest differences in one offender's role - modest difference in offender's subjective cases - differences reflected in findings of special circumstances - one offender changes version under cross-examination - all offenders have solid subjective cases - all are good prospects for rehabilitation - objective seriousness of offending requires adequate punishment despite offending occupying one day only Legislation Cited: Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Drug (Misuse and Trafficking) Act 1985 Drug (Misuse and Trafficking) Act 1985 Evidence Act 1995 Cases Cited: Afu v R [2017] NSWCCA 246 Barbaro v The Queen (2014) 253 CLR 58 Blackman & Walters [2001] NSW CCA 121 BP v R [2010] NSWCCA 159 Clarke-Jeffries v R [2019] NSWCCA 56 Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) v Mawad [2015] NSWCCA 227 Green v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 462 Hili v The Queen (2010) 242 CLR 520 Howard v R [2019] NSWCCA 109 Kristensen v R [2018] NSWCCA 189 KT v R [2008] NSWCCA 51 Lau v R [2010] NSWCCA 43. Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120 Olbrich v the Queen (1999) 199 CLR 270 Oncu and others v R [2018] NSWDC 106 Postiglione v The Queen (1997) 189 CLR 295 R v Blair (2005) 152 A Crim R 462 R v Chan [1999] NSWCCA 103 R v Cheung; R v Choi [2010] NSWCCA 244. R v DW [2012] NSWCCA 66 R v Qutami [2001] NSWCCA 353 R v Shi [2004] NSWCCA 135 R v Simpson [2001] NSWCCA 534 R v Way (2004) 60 NSWLR 168; [2004] NSWCCA 131 Rios v R [2012] NSWCCA 8 Ruano v R [2011] NSWCCA 149 Ryan v R [2017] NSWCCA 209 Tepania v R [2018] NSWCCA 247 The Queen v Pham [2015] HCA 39 Weininger v the Queen (2003) 212 CLR 629 Yardley v Betts (1979) 22 SASR 108 Texts Cited: Parole Supervision and Re-offending: Wai-Yin Wan, Suzanne Poynton, Gerard van Doorn and Don Weatherburn (2016) Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology v149. No.4. p 497. http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/ parolesupervisionandreoffending.pdf Category: Sentence Parties: Esteban Ricardo Forero Gomez (the offender) John Capistan Le (the offender) David Quang Dung Pham (the offender) Jordan Stephens (the offender) Director of Public Prosecutions Representation: Counsel: Mr D Cronin, with Ms S Wallace (for the offender Forero-Gomez) Mr A Djemal (for the offender Le) Mr J Peluso (for the offender Pham) Mr J Korn (for the offender Stephens)