By Cam Lucadou-Wells
An Endeavour Hills drug trafficker and father has been spared further jail after completing a near-full recovery while in rehab.
Dion Negrea, 25, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to offences including trafficking ice and GHB, and negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Police had seized large amounts of cash and drugs during a raid of his Melbourne apartment in November 2020, sentencing judge Liz Gaynor said.
Among the items seized were 118 grams of methylamphetamine and 2.2 litres of GHB as well as $13,300 cash.
Negrea was not at the flat at the time of the raid.
He was intercepted by police in St Kilda two months later. During a search, he was found with two bottles of GHB, $885 cash and a false driver’s licence.
He refused to give police the PIN code for his phone.
At the time, Negrea was on bail, breaching a condition to live at a specific address in Endeavour Hills.
On 7 September, Judge Gaynor said Negrea’s offending was linked to a drug relapse brought on by Covid lockdowns.
Like many, he struggled with boredom, isolation, unemployment and solely online support while adjusting to life outside rehab and custody.
He was regularly using ice, GHB and heroin at the time.
However, he had flourished since being bailed to residential rehab at Odyssey House in mid-2021. He had recovered through three levels to the ‘leaver’s stage’ of the program.
Judge Gaynor said he was no longer a danger to society.
“The situation for you now is that you’re now seriously addressing your drug problem.
“I’m satisfied that you have very good prospects for rehabilitation.
“You’ve done a terrific job in undertaking long-term, serious and demanding drug rehab. (It) requires a great deal from its participants.
“Hats off to you – you were the one who took the opportunity.”
Judge Gaynor noted his “not particularly lengthy” history of drug crime including a County Court conviction, as well as his early guilty plea and his re-connection with his family.
Negrea’s desire to move away from concreting work was “sensible”.
The judge said the court had seen many tradies using illicit drugs to cope with long hours and physical toil.
Negrea was placed on an 18-month community corrections order including 100 hours of unpaid work as well as judicial monitoring, drug and mental health treatment.
He was jailed for 160 days – which had been already served in pre-sentence detention.
