Methamphetamine ‘chief executive’ gets jail term cut
A patched Head Hunter described as a methamphetamine ‘‘chief executive’’ has succeeded in getting his prison sentence reduced.
Stacy Paora was a senior patched Head Hunter overseeing ‘‘a relatively sophisticated enterprise supplying methamphetamine in the Bay of Plenty’’, a Court of Appeal judgment said.
But he wasn’t given enough credit for pleading guilty, so his original sentence of 12 years and one month was dropped to nine years and 10 months, according to the written judgment released on Thursday.
The Court also took just over a year off his minimum period of imprisonment, reducing it to four years and 11 months.
Paora was originally sentenced in May 2020 at the High Court in Rotorua after pleading guilty to 18 charges, including participation in an organised criminal group, conspiring to deal ephedrine, possession of a pistol, eleven charges of supplying methamphetamine and four charges of possessing methamphetamine for supply.
‘‘Mr Paora’s leadership role in the methamphetamine supply operation was likened to that of a chief executive,’’ the judgment said.
‘‘He had overall control of the methamphetamine supply operation . . . While Mr Paora distanced himself from the drugs themselves, the bulk of the profits from the supply operation accrued to him.’’
Paora would identify suitable gang prospects, enforce discipline among the members and ‘‘matched various gang members’ abilities to the gang’s operations’’.
He oversaw the supply of 691.8 grams of methamphetamine between November 16, 2015 and December 20, 2016 and, over the same period, had possession of at least two more kilograms for supply.