Gun ‘for protection’
Spizzirri brothers in court
THE playboy sons of a notorious Gold Coast drug kingpin have been busted with $93,000 in cash and a loaded, unlicensed revolver hidden under the floor during a police raid on their $3.2 million Brisbane home, a court has been told.
Lee Dean Spizzirri, 39, from New Farm and his younger brother Kris Spizzirri, 35, appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday where police tendered Kris Spizzirri’s extensive criminal history which includes a conviction for large-scale production of the drug “ice” as well as similar weapons charges.
Barrister for both men, Christopher Wilson, told Magistrate Barry Cosgrove the gun and cash belonged to Lee, a builder who routinely kept large amounts of “legitimate” cash at home.
Mr Wilson told the court the Spizzirri business “turns over many millions of dollars a year” and Lee kept the gun for “protection because of the business and the nature of the business”.
“He had it for no sinister purpose such as committing a crime,” he told the court.
Magistrate Cosgrove was concerned and suspicious about why Spizzirri needed to keep $93,000 at home “in this day and age”.
“The taxman might be interested in that too,” Magistrate Cosgrove said.
Police Prosecutor Matt Kahler told the court police found the loaded revolver under the flooring in the room Lee claimed was his.
They also found a further 16 rounds of ammunition and a firearms magazine.
The brothers both denied any knowledge of the gun and ammunition to police.
Lee Spizzirri pleaded guilty to possession of a revolver and four other charges including possession of the injectable tanning drug Melanotan II, sedative Diazepam and glass pipes used to smoke drugs. He was fined $16,000. No conviction was recorded and the gun was forfeited.
In granting Kris Spizzirri bail, Magistrate Cosgrove said Lee’s guilty plea had taken the “sting” out of Kris’s charges, which include possession of a category H firearm.