A struggling tyre-shop owner who tended a large “sophisticated” crop of cannabis in his Eumemmerring house and granny-flat has been jailed.
Fadil Bedjeti, 41, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to cultivation of a narcotic plant in a commercial quantity, theft, handling stolen goods and drug possession.
In May 2022, police raided Bedjeti’s house, seizing 35 mature plants with a total weight of 109 kilograms from three hydroponic set-ups.
In sentencing on 9 September, Judge Kellie Blair noted there was a watering system in the hallway between two crop rooms, and an electrical bypass in the roof cavity to steal power and avoid detection.
“Your property was extensively damaged with holes cut through plaster walls and makeshift electricity circuits added to some walls.”
Police also seized 3.3 kilograms of dried cannabis from a back shed and in a BMW, as well as a stolen excavator and trailer that Bedjeti said he “borrowed” from a man down the street named ‘Mick’.
Further dried cannabis and $8340 were seized from his tyre business at Thomastown.
They also found $11,700 in Bedjeti’s pants pocket, $2750 in his jacket, $895 from the home kitchen counter and $124 from the living-room floor.
Bedjeti told police that the money in his pockets was from “banking” from customers and “not crime money”.
He also had cash from selling two cars, and deposits from three others, he claimed.
Bedjeti also denied owning the plants, saying two men ‘Paul’ and ‘Michael’ rented the rooms from him and put the plants there.
He was given instructions about watering, and was to be paid $2000 for “gardening”, he said.
Judge Blair noted the 112 kilograms of seized cannabis was about 4.5 times the commercial cultivation threshold.
She found Bedjeti played a subservient but important role “akin to a trusted employee” – by providing the premises, and tending and watering the plants.
“I accept that your motivation was both to feed your own addiction and to receive a relatively modest profit.”
At the time of offending, his business and personal woes had compounded during Covid.
He’d suffered a significant hand injury at work, his wife and children separated from him and he started heavily using drugs to self-treat his depression and pain.
While on bail, he’d continued to run his business but had also resorted to drugs including cannabis, alcohol and meth to deal with the stress of his criminal case.
He’d also since been sentenced for drink-driving, refusing a breath test, unlicensed driving.
Last year, he was jailed for nine days for drug possession, dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing an unregistered handgun.
Born in North Macedonia, Bedjeti had built his adult life in Australia in the past 20 years. But as a non-citizen, he was at risk of deportation.
His house is now subject to automatic forfeiture, his business lost and he had lost contact with his family.
“It is apparent that the offending has cost you dearly,” the judge stated.
Judge Blair rejected a defence submission for a ‘combination’ sentence of jail and a community correction order, deeming it “inadequate”.
Bedjeti was jailed for two years, with a 12-month non-parole period.
