Two men involved in cultivating 92 kilograms of cannabis in Melbourne’s west have avoided jail.
Carmello Notaro and Johnny Borg each pleaded guilty in the County Court to charges of cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis, which carries a maximum term of 25 years’ imprisonment.
Between June and September, 2013, the pair monitored a hydroponic set-up for growing cannabis at a house in Pembrey Road, Cairnlea.
They helped maintain the watering and lighting systems, and dumped containers and other cannabis-related waste materials at the Brooklyn tip.
When police executed a search warrant on the house, they found 92.4 kilograms of cannabis.
After the pair learned the Cairnlea house had been raided, they helped another offender dispose of her cannabis crop at Sydenham.
The next day, police intercepted them in a car being driven by another woman carrying 988 grams of cannabis in a bucket on the back seat that they were trying to dispose of.
Both men were convicted of aiding and abetting the cultivation of a commercial quantity of cannabis, helping an offender dispose of cannabis plants and possessing a drug of dependence.
They were released on a community corrections order for two years and must each perform 250 hours of community work and undergo drug treatment.
Judge Paul Grant said while the men were involved in a serious criminal enterprise, he accepted it was a rare case where a non-custodial order should be made.
“Normally, those engaged in such offending go to jail,” he said.
“This is because general deterrence is a paramount sentencing consideration in cases of this type. Secondly, you show through your involvement in the two other offences a familiarity with other cannabis growers and a determined willingness to assist them,” he said.
However, Mr Grant noted, the two had been cannabis users for some years and had received cannabis but no financial reward for their involvement.
He said after their arrest, the two each spent 38 days in custody – the first time for both of them – which was “a chastening experience”.
He said the men entered early guilty pleas and had no relevant prior convictions.
