Dealer making £1k a day had own chauffeur
A WOMAN was caught delivering drugs in her father’s car while being driven around by a chauffeur.
Shantae Duporte was found delivering crack cocaine and heroin to people in Derbyshire when she was pulled over by police in June 2019.
The 20-year-old had hired a man to drive her in her father’s car and was found with hundreds of pounds in cash and wraps of drugs in the vehicle.
She also hid drugs in a purse belonging to her sister, which was subsequently lost in Asda, bringing her to the attention of police again in February last year.
At the height of her activities, she was bringing in up to £1,000 a day in drug money, which she spent on herself and her family.
Sarah Allen, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court that Duporte and Guy Taylor, the man hired to drive the car, “appeared nervous” when it was stopped by police in Somercotes, on June 13, 2019.
“Miss Duporte pointed to a white container in the footwell,” she said. “That was found to contain cannabis.”
Officers found wraps of cocaine and heroin, along with more than £500 in cash. A mobile phone was recovered which had been used to send “mass marketing messages” to potential customers on May 27 and June 11.
Duporte, of Raymead Drive, Nottingham, said she knew nothing about the class A drugs when interviewed by the police but accepted the cannabis was hers.
Meanwhile, Taylor, of Elmtree Avenue, Shirland, Alfreton, admitted he was a user of crack cocaine and said he had been asked by a dealer to drive someone around.
“He said he suspected drugs were being dealt, although he thought it was cannabis,” Ms Allen said.
While the case was being investigated by police, Duporte came to the attention of the police again.
“The defendant had been hiding drugs in her sister’s purse, but her sister managed to lose the purse in Asda,” Ms Allen said. “The staff found the drugs and called the police. Recovered in that purse was 116 wraps of crack cocaine.”
Duporte told the police she kept the drugs in the purse to keep them away from children.
“She accepted in that interview she would deal £1,000 worth of drugs a day and would spend the money on herself and her family,” Ms Allen said.
She later pleaded guilty to selling cocaine and heroin, as well as possession with intent to supply the same drugs.
Matthew Smith, mitigating for Duporte, said she had fallen under the influence of a bad group of people who encouraged her to sell the drugs. “She’s a young woman who between the ages of 15 and 18 was in a very abusive relationship,” he said. “She’s now for the first time medicating. She lacked any real structure in her life, she was drinking too much and she was using drugs.
“She has a large group of male and female friends who encouraged this behaviour at a time when she was vulnerable to becoming involved. She was seeking support and solace. She got that from a group of dealers.”
He added she had only been 18 and 19 when committing the offences. “She has stayed out of trouble since then,” Mr Smith said.
Stephen Cobley, mitigating for Taylor, said his client had been to prison since the original offence and was already being rehabilitated. “He has been working with the probation services since his release,” he said. He said family problems had led his client to “drink excessively and use drugs”.
At a sentencing hearing at Derby Crown Court on Thursday, Duporte was jailed for 18 months.
Recorder Paul Mann said: “What can be said which is significant in your case is at the time you started committing this offence you were of previous good character.
“From what I have read there were a number of male associates you were mixing with. None of that can save you today from an immediate custodial sentence.”
Taylor received a prison sentence of two years, suspended for two years, and given an eight-week curfew between 8pm to 6.30am.
Recorder Mann said: “There’s no benefit to the public in sending you back to prison. To send you back to prison today would be to pull the rug out from under you.”
She would spend the money on herself and her family.
Sarah Allen, prosecuting