A 34 YEAR-old Traralgon man has been sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison for trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine.
Glenn Andrew McKinnell pleaded guilty last week to the charge which relates to activity between July 2011 and June 2012 during which he trafficked the drug, known as ‘ice’, from New South Wales to Victoria.
He was among six men – three of whom were from other parts of Gippsland – arrested in June last year in Melbourne with a large amount of the drug of dependence.
In the Latrobe Valley County Court on Friday, Judge John Smallwood said he accepted McKinnell had shown remorse.
“Your attitude now you’re straight is comforting,” Judge Smallwood said in sentencing McKinnell.
“You now say you want to rehabilitate. I have no doubt that’s a genuine determination.”
He said while McKinnell had trafficked for profit, there was no sign he lived a life of “enrichment”, as McKinnell was himself, a drug user.
Judge Smallwood said McKinnell had a drug dependence by his late teens and “became the nightmare every parent fears”.
McKinnell was supported in court by his family.
“They have seen you in jail and court and will continue to see you in jail for a significant amount of time,” Judge Smallwood said.
McKinnell was also given a concurrent sentence of six months for handling a stolen ride-on lawnmower.
He will serve a minimum of six years and three months.
