A former professional ballet dancer who spent almost 13 months behind bars after she was busted selling liquid ecstasy in the Illawarra has been spared further jail time on sentencing.
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Emily Provost said she was a "broken drug addict" when she arrested in August 2020 for her role in the syndicate, which was the target of a three-month sting by Wollongong drug unit police investigating the supply of methamphetamine and gamma-butyrolactone, colloquially known as GBL, on the south coast.
Provost was remanded in custody after her arrest and spent a year and 20 days behind bars until being granted bail in the Supreme Court in September last year.
She subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of commercial drug supply, admitting that she supplied 850mls of GBL, worth $1800, to a man who would then on-sell the drugs to a wide customer base throughout Wollongong and Lake Illawarra.
In a sentencing hearing in Wollongong District Court, Provost said she had begun using "party drugs" on the weekend to combat shyness but the substances had quickly "taken over" her life.
"Eighteen months ago I was brought before the court a broken drug addict," she said in an apology letter tendered to the court.
"I didn't realise that I alone was responsible for the state of my life. I blamed everyone and refused to see sense or to accept that what I was doing was selfish, dangerous, irresponsible and illegal."
Provost said she had previously worked for Queensland Ballet as a professional dancer before training as a hairdresser.
She moved to the Illawarra with her partner in 2017, but said the relationship involved a large amount of drug use.
She said at the time of her arrest she was using a gram or more of ice a day.
Provost said jail was a wake up call for her and she vowed to turn her life around, even helping establish a Narcotics Anonymous-style program in the prison after finding the courses available weren't beneficial.
"I am grateful I was charged and I am grateful I went to jail," she said.
"If it didn't happen to me I don't think I ever would have changed. I am proud to stand before you today a strong and healthy woman."
"I'm working again, paying my bills, reconnecting with family and talking about my addiction and crime."
Defence barrister Dean Woodbury urged Judge Andrew Haesler not to send Provost back to jail.
Judge Haesler agreed, sentencing Provost to a non-parole period of one year and 20 days, covering the time she had already spent behind bars.
Provost will now spend a further 14-and-a-half months on parole.
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