Broome man jailed for 16 months for selling cannabis

A Broome man has been jailed for 16 months for possessing a 1.5kg cannabis with intent to sell and unlawfully obtaining more than $50,000 in cash. Osvaldo Benaldi, 49, was convicted in the Broome District Court on Monday after police conducted a search of his Cable Beach home in December 2018. Broome Detectives executed a search warrant of Benaldi’s home in Reid Road, where they found approximately 1.5 kilograms of cannabis. The cannabis had been partially bagged up into individual 28 gram bags for sale. Benaldi told police he bought the cannabis for $3,000 and was planning to sell the drug at $400 per ounce, having already sold two ounces for $1,000. Benaldi’s counsel Seamus Rafferty submitted Benaldi had given up his full-time employment as a truck driver to become his elderly mother’s full time carer after she was hospitalised for significant heart-related issues in March 2018. “He made the utterly appalling decision at some point in time to engage in commercial drug dealing,” Mr Rafferty told the court. “It was, he concedes, an appalling decision. It is one that he continues to kick himself for because the only person this is really going to have any impact on is his mother, because he will not be there to provide the care she requires.” Judge Belinda Lonsdale sentenced Benaldi to 14 months imprisonment with eligibility for parole. Benaldi was sentenced to a further two months in jail in the Broome Magistrates Court later that day for possessing a total of $52,450 in cash that was believed to be unlawfully obtained. The money was found inside jacket pockets during the same search conducted by police. When police asked Benaldi where the money came from, he said it was from buying and selling cars privately and he wanted to avoid paying taxes if he went through a dealership. Police also found a crossbow, a prohibited weapon, in Benaldi’s bedroom along with another damaged one in his backyard shed. Benaldi was also fined $500 for possessing the crossbows. He will be eligible for parole in September.