A Hillside father of one has been sentenced to 27 months jail for his role in the cultivation of cannabis at a Strathmerton property.
Darren Gauci pleaded guilty to several charges including possessing equipment such as lights, chemicals and electrical transformers with the intention of cultivating a drug of dependence.
The County Court heard last month equipment was found on Gauci’s Hillside property after police executed a search warrant.
The 46-year-old was also charged with the theft of electricity using bypass equipment on January 29, 2013, and with a summary offence from incorrectly stored ammunition found at his Boronia Drive property.
The court also heard Gauci, a concrete business owner, had been placed on an adjourned bond for cannabis possession in 1990.
Magistrate Richard Maidment accepted Gauci had shown remorse for his actions.
“I do not sentence you on the basis of these being commercial cultivations. I sentence you on the basis that none of you had the state of mind that you were becoming involved in offences of cultivation on a commercial scale,” he said.
“Nevertheless there was to be clearly a very substantial financial reward to be obtained from cultivation on the scale in which you engaged yourselves.”
He will be eligible for parole in 18 months.
