Shame of man who moved drug cash

A FORMER Cairns electrician has been sentenced to a suspended two-year jail term for his role as a bagman moving nearly $350,000 from cannabis sales around the region in just four months.

Dominic Frisone, formerly of Edmonton, appeared in Cairns Supreme Court on Monday after pleading guilty to knowingly engaging in money laundering between February and May 2017.

The court heard the 59year-old was paid $10,000 during that period in which he helped move drug money totalling $348,000 on four occasions between convicted Cairns drug trafficker Kieren Wilson, 33, and co-defendant Gaetano Antonio Del Giglio, 48. Del Giglio has not pleaded to charges and is still before the courts.

The trio had met at a restaurant where Frisone agreed to receive $100 per pound of cannabis and other perks, including partying, fishing trips and interactions with women.

Frisone only stopped his involvement after Del Giglio allegedly assaulted him for looking at his girlfriend sideways, the court heard.

In his sentencing remarks, Justice Jim Henry said it was “remarkable that a person of your life experience chose to offend as you did”. “I do not accept that you were oblivious to the potential consequences of your offending,” he said.

Justice Henry said that while “any form of money laundering was serious”, he believed Frisone was genuinely remorseful and that he had shown good behaviour during the time between his offending and his sentencing.

“Whilst you may have been a novice at this activity, you were well aware of the illegality involved,” he said.

Earlier in the sentencing, Frisone, who now lives in Sydney to look after his parents, broke down in tears while telling the court he was ashamed and regretted his actions.