A man arrested with more than $250,000 cash that was allegedly the proceeds of drug trafficking had since turned his life around, his barrister claimed in the County Court sitting in Bendigo.
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Former Lockwood south resident Daniel Bailey fronted the court on Monday, May 15 to plead guilty to negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime and failure to provide information or assistance for data under warrant.
The charges relate to a dramatic March 23, 2022 arrest after the vehicle Bailey was travelling in collided with two police cars near a border checkpoint at Echuca.
At the time the then 35-year-old, who was a passenger, was on bail for dangerous driving while being pursued by police.
Bailey relocated to Queensland
The court heard that in November 2021 police had started investigating Bailey over his association with an alleged drug trafficking enterprise dealing in large commercial quantities of cocaine and methylamphetamine.
The operation had resulted in two people being charged but the investigation into Bailey stalled when he relocated to Mackay in Queensland in mid-February 2022.
However, on March 21, police received a tip-off that a truck driver had flown to Mackay to drive Bailey - who lacked a valid licence - back to Victoria.
Monitoring the truck driver's phone and working with Queensland police, the investigators tracked the pair's southward journey in a Black 2021 Holden Statesman that Bailey had bought in Rockhampton.
North of Goondoowindi the two men were stopped for speeding.
About 5.30pm the next day they arrived at the NSW-Victoria border and drove through a police checkpoint set up to intercept Bailey.
After the Holden failed to stop, police manoeuvred one car in front and one behind it to make it completely clear to the driver that he needed to pull over.
According to police, the driver then braked heavily, causing the police car behind him to collide with the rear of the Holden, which in turn hit the police car in front of it.
Cash stashed around the car
When police searched the Statesman they found a total of $253,303.50 in cash - around $200,000 of it underneath the rear passenger seat, $15,000 in a bag in the boot and other sums of several thousand dollars in a suitcase on the rear seat and the driver's seat map pocket, while Bailey had $1685 in cash on him.
When told by police he had been ordered to provide his pin code to any electronic devices in the car and that failing to comply was an indictable offence punishable by imprisonment, Bailey said he didn't have a phone, despite one being subsequently found on the passenger seat where he had been sitting.
While his co-accused gave an account of their activities, Bailey remained mute during his police interview.
The driver said Bailey had paid for his flight and for him to drive Bailey back to Victoria and claimed he had no idea the money was in the car.
The court heard that after Bailey was released on bail, police captured numerous incriminating conversations he had with the two people charged over the alleged drug trafficking enterprise via listening devices.
These included one suspect complaining about how Bailey's driving to Victoria with $200,000 and getting 'pinched' was a problem for her.
'Very successful' rehab questioned
In court, defence barrister James McQuillan called the clinical director of alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility Harmony House, where Bailey had completed a 90-day in-patient program as a witness.
Carlo La Marchisina gave evidence that Bailey, who had self-admitted and so far spent around $50,000 on treatment at the centre, had had "many cathartic experiences" and was "very successful" and had proven to be a leader among participants.
"I'd put him in the top 10 per cent of all my programs. I'd give him nine out of 10," Mr La Marchisina said.
Mr McQuillan argued his client's ongoing treatment with Harmony House had seen him "turn his life around".
Bailey was living with his mother in Kangaroo Flat, sharing custody of his four-year-old son and had started a bricklaying business, which employed three people.
But prosecutor David Cordy, pointing to Bailey's prior convictions and the seriousness of the current offences, expressed some skepticism, telling Mr La Marchisina it would be "interesting to see whether he continues to engage with you after the court proceedings are over".
Judge Kellie Blair agreed that "the rehabilitation presented to the court is in its infancy", deferring Bailey's sentence for three months "to see how he goes".
She extended his bail on condition Bailey continue to engage with Harmony House, live with his mother at Kangaroo Flat and not contact any of his co-accuseds.
He is due back in court on August 12.
