A REPEAT offender with a vice for weapons, drugs, and disobeying road rules has pleaded guilty to a slew of dangerous driving and drug offences in the Bendigo County Court today.
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The court heard Steven Richard Nieto, 35, was released from jail in 2020 and relapsed shortly after, using drugs and reoffending.
His defence barrister, Glenn Cooper, said Nieto has had a "fair bit of contact with the criminal justice system."
Judge Kevin Doyle said the offender had been "kicking around the courts for a long time now."
The court heard that between September and November of 2021 Nieto committed a string of "alarming" driving offences -dangerous driving while being pursued by police, driving while being given the direction to stop, altering license plates, driving unlicensed, and driving an unregistered vehicle.
Prosecutor Dr Jason Harkess described Nieto's driving as "putting the pedal to the floor."
"It's inherently dangerous."
The prosecutor said Nieto put members of the public and police in harm's way with his dangerous driving and he was "someone who disobeys driving rules."
He said even though no one was hurt by Nieto's driving, they could have been.
Nieto also trafficked methylamphetamine, possessed a drug of dependence, dealt with proceeds of crime, possessed a prohibited weapon, and failed to provide information.
The court heard the offender had almost three times the commercial quantity of drugs.
Nieto pleaded guilty to all the charges.
Mr Cooper said "it's conceded that the charges are serious."
He said the most serious charges were for trafficking and dangerous driving while being pursued by police.
Mr Cooper said Nieto had a serious accident aged 19 which is when he started using drugs.
The court heard the offender's parents were supportive, his parents and brothers worked, and he had no background of disadvantage, but has not had consistent employment for some time.
Mr Cooper said the relationship between Nieto and his parents had been strained because of his offending and the subsequent publication of the case and the attention it bought them.
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Nieto has three children with his ex partner, who he had a good relationship with.
Mr Cooper said his client was using drugs daily and had a "reasonably significant driving history," but his "he doesn't have a driving history in this manner."
He said Nieto had some level of engagement with corrections before relapsing, reoffending and breaching orders.
"There's been a number of breaches of orders," Mr Cooper said.
Judge Doyle said the offender hasn't been able to take advantage of the opportunities he's had.
The Judge said "he keeps relapsing" and has had "sentence after sentence of imprisonment."
"What does he want to do to get out of the cycle he's in after the the term I impose?" he said.
Mr Cooper said there was no evidence his client's offending was part of a more sophisticated operation and his drug offences were at the "lower end of the scale."
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He said a term of imprisonment with a non parole period was an appropriate sentence and mentioned the value of Nieto's plea of guilty, his admissions in police interviews, and the burdensome nature of custody.
The defence barrister said his client was keen to take courses in custody to improve his future employment prospects.
Judge Doyle said Nieto's prospects for rehabilitation were "guarded."
Prosecutor Dr Jason Harkess said the offender pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and he was "forthcoming" with his admissions to police - except for when he refused to give them the passcode to his phone.
"I haven't seen a record of interview like that for sometime," he said.
Nieto will be sentenced next month. He has spent 330 days in custody so far.
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