R v Raymundo Antonio ORELLANA [2009] NSWDC 433

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Raymundo Antonio ORELLANA [2009] NSWDC 433

JUDGMENT DATE: 30 October 2009

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ

DECISION: Non-parole period of 6 years 6 months. Balance of the term 4 years 6 months.

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - conviction after trial - import marketable quantity of cocaine - no other sentence than full time impreisonment appropriate - luggage searched by customs at Sydney Airport when returning to Australia from Venezuela - cocaine impregnated in clothing - satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the amount of cocaine was near the upper end of the range for a marketable quantity - street value of cocaine over one million dollars and close to two million dollars - trip to Venezuela was for the purpose of importing the cocaine - offender came to Australia as refugee - no relevant prior criminal history

LEGISLATION CITED: Criminal Code Act 1995 s 307.2(1)

CASES CITED: The Queen v Olbrich (1999) 199 CLR 270

PARTIES: Regina Raymund Antonio Orellana

FILE NUMBER(S): 2009/1886

COUNSEL: Mr S Flood for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Mr B Brassil for the offender

JUDGMENT

1. I am sentencing Raymundo Antonio Orellana for a very serious crime. The crime is importing drugs into Australia. The crime is an offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995, s 307.2(1) of the Commonwealth. It involves what is called a marketable quantity of the drug. The drug was cocaine. The maximum penalty is twenty five years imprisonment.

2. Mr Orellana pleaded not guilty when he was charged with this offence but a jury found him guilty of the offence on 25 August this year and I now formally convict Mr Orellana of that offence.