Gordon found guilty
FORMER NRL star Michael Gordon has been found guilty of supplying cocaine and MDMA but walked from court with good behaviour bonds and no convictions.
Gordon, who played 261 games for five NRL clubs including the Gold Coast Titans where he finished his career in 2019, was among seven people arrested in a major cross-border drug bust in 2020.
He pleaded not guilty to two charges of supplying cocaine and MDMA and guilty to two charges of possessing the drugs.
Tweed Heads Local Court heard that Gordon, 38, was a “regular user of cocaine” who purchased “thousands of dollars worth of drugs” from a dealer targeted in the police operation.
The court was told he was arrested after police found text messages between him and the dealer arranging a cocaine delivery and trying to get MDMA.
One MDMA tablet and a small amount of cocaine was also found in a police raid on his house at Casuarina on the Tweed Coast, the court heard.
Defence barrister Jason Curtis told the court it was an understatement to say his client was embarrassed.
Mr Curtis said Gordon (pictured) and his family had suffered “significant difficulty and trauma” as a result of media coverage of his crimes, and his children had been forced to change schools.
Mr Curtis said references attested to Gordon’s “exceptional character” and he had spent “many years giving back to the community” through charity work.
He said the offences were “a minor blemish in the context of this man’s life”.
Mr Curtis said Gordon was “very unlikely” to reoffend and if he did “it might be the end of his family life”.
Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy said Gordon had removed himself from the “criminal milieu” and his offending was “very much at the lower end of objective seriousness”.
Mr Dunlevy said Gordon was “famous” and had suffered extracurial punishment as a result of media attention.
He dismissed the supply charges against Gordon and released him on a two-year good behaviour order for supplying cocaine and a one-year order for the supply of MDMA. No convictions were recorded.