Twin bothers Joel and Flinn Westman didn't lead a life of luxury while establishing their Illawarra drug supply business with the court hearing they were largely indebted to their upline supplier during their burgeoning trade.
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Now they will spend more than four and three years inside jail cells, respectively, after they were sentenced for supplying a commercial quantity of drugs, supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs and aggravated assault with intent to take a motor vehicle when they appeared in Wollongong District Court on Monday.
The charges relate to the supply of 308 grams of MDMA - 4200 ecstasy pills - across five deals with four to undercover officers and 557.2grams of cocaine over six deals with five being to covert cops between July 17 and August 16, 2019.
The brothers, aged 19 at the time, came under notice in June before their drug dealing was monitored by police with controlled operations that included covert and physical surveillance, listening devices and telephone intercepts.
The men, and their associates, were recorded discussing the collection, distribution, packing and weighing of drugs and were often "more boastful" with the amount of money they were making than they actually profited.
The twins discussed how much their would charge for their product, different quantities, whether to cut the cocaine and had several downline suppliers who would sell the drugs on the street for them.
They also argued about the involvement of Joel's girlfriend Nikita Campbell.
However, the court heard the brothers, who rented a modest Coniston home, would help ensure their sellers recouped owed money so they could continued sourcing drugs.
On one occasion on July 12, the brothers went to the home of a customer where they threatened to "stab" him if he did not hand over his white BMW.
"He bridged up to me for like one second. I was like, 'what c---', and - boom - hit him, one shot on the ground and I started laying into him," Joel was recorded saying to a friend about the assault.
Though the car was registered to the partner of the man's mother, the brothers retained it for their drug supply activities and it was later seized by police.
Their drug operation became too good to be true when the a female customer - an undercover police officer - offered to buy $91,000 worth of cocaine after previously buying increasingly more drugs from the brothers in the two months prior.
The undercover cop arranged to buy 13 ounces of cocaine which capped off the large police operation and lead to their arrest on August 16 where an eight-ounce bag of cocaine was seized before the sale took place.
The Westman twins, along with their older brother Daniel, Nikita Campbell and other associates including Shaun Lane and David Ognenovski, were all arrested during sweeping raids. Detectives arrested Colby Campbell the following day outside Wollongong courthouse after he turned up to support his sister's bid for bail.
The other drug deals were arranged on Snapchat and carried out by henchmen. Some played out in the cars of undercover officers parked at Wests Illawarra Leagues Club and KFC at Unanderra.
On July 31, friend and seller Colby Campbell arrived at the Westman's home carrying 4200 pills and the trio discussed the purity of the ecstasy pills before they split them into 100-gram quantities so the drugs could be sold to customers.
Judge Andrew Haesler also found the brothers guilty of a charge of directing a criminal group following a hearing.
The men denied they told their downline suppliers what to do, with their defence team submitting there was no "syndicate or hierarchy" and they were "more akin to a delivery driver than a syndicate boss".
But Judge Haesler did find they "exercised some control" over their subordinates.
The court heard the brothers were introduced to suppling a small amount of drugs by friend Scott Crowther but once they found their own upline supplier they started a "wholesale business".
Judge Haesler determined the brothers were not moving "120 ounces a week" but rather they were "big noting" themselves.
"They both contributed financially to set up their business, they went into debt with their upline supplier, shared in the profit and stood to make a handsome profit," he said.
"They were actively involved in the wholesale drug supply operation. They distanced themselves from the users. They were aware of the risks and sought to reduce those risks."
Judge Haesler added the men distributed the drugs for "greed" and were equal partners in the trade.
The court also heard the boys had a "traumatic" childhood and were regular drug users during their operation, with Judge Haesler noting they were "young and immature".
The court heard the men accepted responsibility for their actions, had shown insight into their crimes, had the continued support of their family and good prospects of rehabilitation but would need psychological support.
Joel was sentenced to a total of eight years and six months in prison with a four year and eight month non-parole period.
Flinn will spend four years and two months in jail after receiving a head sentence of seven years and eight months.
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