Ice couple in jail for selling while on bail
A DRUG duo who trafficked ice while on bail for selling the illegal drug have been jailed.
Joshua Raymond Cottam, 36, and Meghan Peta Burgess, 28, both pleaded guilty to a string of offences, including one count each of trafficking in dangerous drugs, when they faced Townsville Supreme Court yesterday.
The court heard that over a five- week period in September- October 2016 the pair, who were in a romantic relationship, trafficked methylamphetamine to about nine regular customers in Charters Towers.
In November 2016 Burgess was arrested after being stopped by police, who searched her home and car. A little under two weeks later, Cottam handed himself in to police.
The court heard the two were granted bail and about three months later, in January 2017, they started selling again, nearly doubling their client base to 17 people.
In March 2017, police seized more than 230g of ice in Sydney and Los Angeles worth $ 130,000, which had been arranged through Cottam. They continued trafficking for 10 months until November 2017.
Crown prosecutor Andrew Walklate said during the sec- ond period of offending, the evasion of police had become more “sophisticated” as they used the dark web and Bitcoin.
“For example he ( Cottam) bought himself a book that talked about methods of encryption,” Mr Walklate said.
Defence barrister Scott Geeves said Cottam had taken full responsibility for his actions and had been described as a “hard worker”, who was qualified and maintained gainful employment.
Cottam was sentenced to three years for the first period of trafficking and 9 ½ years for the second, to be served concurrently. He will be eligible for parole on November 22, 2022.
Burgess was sentenced to two years for the first period and six for the second, to be served concurrently. She will be eligible for parole on September 2, 2020.