Chemist worker caught in drug ring
A ROCKHAMPTON pharmacy worker, who had played an administrative role in a large Sunshine Coast drug syndicate, has received a suspended jail term for her role in the operation.
Gabrielle Costello, 24, had a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years for her part in the "commercial enterprise".
The financially driven leader of the ring, Anthony Ganley, 34, was jailed for 7.5 years for his role at the top of the trafficking network, filtering drugs to wholesalers who would pass on to street level dealers.
The Brisbane Supreme Court heard this week that Costello sometimes answered her partner's phone and acted as "a go-between" to supply drugs.
Ganley targeted events such as the Big Day Out music festival and Australia Day in 2009 and 2010.
The court heard Anthony Ganley was caught with 500 pills in January 2010, but continued to head the drug ring when released on bail.
Ganley and Costello had both been living and working in Rockhampton since mid-2011.
Costello sobbed throughout the sentencing on Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to six counts of supply.
Costello's barrister Stephen Courtney said his client asked Anthony to stop using and passing on drugs at one point.
He claimed Costello did not know the extent of Anthony's network and simply conveyed information when she answered his phone occasionally.
Ganley's father, Wayne, 57, and brother, Dwayne, 30, were jailed for four years and will become eligible to apply for parole in February, 2014.
Wayne was involved in "warehousing the drugs" and providing "advice and encouragement" including ways to avoid police detection.
Justice John Byrne told the Ganley family members - who were targeting young people at music festivals and social events - that trafficking ecstasy, speed, cocaine and marijuana could cause many health problems in the community.
Defence barrister Simone Bain argued her client's trafficking was on the lower end of the scale and the quantities were not far above what street dealers would possess.
