CDPP v Delano [2025] VCC 1379

3 The paste contained 2.032 kg of pure cocaine which is a border controlled drug.

4 Under the Criminal Code a commercial quantity of cocaine is 2 kg.

6 At interview, you admitted you had brought the shampoo bottles into Australia in your luggage.

7 You said you suspected the bottles contained an illicit drug but not something as 'bad' as cocaine. You said you would never have agreed to bring cocaine with you.

8 You gave police your phone and the passcode to enable them to access your data.

9 In your phone, they found messages which you had exchanged with your daughter about the arrangements for you to bring the bottles into Australia.

11 On 3 February 2025 she told you she had been given the flight money for you to travel. She said you would leave on the next weekend.

12 On 7 February 2025 you sent her film of you packing the three plastic bottles into your suitcase.

13 On 8 February 2025 she told you the time of your flight and its duration.

14 On 9 February 2025 she sent you an image with details of your accommodation in Melbourne.

15 On 10 February 2025 you messaged her saying you had landed in Australia.

16 Shortly after, at Melbourne airport, you were detected with the bottles in your luggage.

17 By your guilty plea you admit you were reckless as to whether the bottles, which you brought into Australia, contained a border controlled drug.

18 As the maximum penalty of life imprisonment demonstrates, importation of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug is a very serious offence.

19 Your criminality is to be assessed by consideration of your involvement in the importation. [2]

20 And, although the weight of the drug imported is not the principal factor, the size of the importation is relevant.

21 You were the courier for the cocaine, simply following instructions. You dealt only with your daughter who gave you limited information. While your role was also limited, it was nevertheless essential to the importation process.

22 It is not alleged you knew the nature or the quantity of the drug which you imported.

23 You imported 2.032 kg of pure cocaine into Australia.

24 It is at the low end of the commercial quantity scale.

25 You had no financial stake in the cocaine which you imported. Your financial gain was modest. You were getting a short expenses paid holiday to Australia.

26 Overall, I assess the objective seriousness of your offending to be low end for a crime of this type.

27 And, considering the circumstances of your recruitment, I assess your moral culpability in this case to be lower than for many other importation cases.

29 After the discovery of the cocaine, you were charged with its importation and remanded in custody.

30 On 5 June 2025, at committal mention stage, you entered your guilty plea.

31 You were born in July 1976. You were 48 years old when you offended. You are now 49.

32 You were born in the United States and grew up in Nevada. You have an older half-brother and two younger siblings. Your father was a builder and your mother a homemaker.

33 You were born with an oesophageal disorder which caused you eating problems. During childhood you often stayed with an aunt because you mother had difficulty looking after you. You describe your father as honest and hard-working and your mother was jealous and controlling. They often argued.

34 Church was a large part of family life. You attended local schools. After you completed your secondary education you worked in hospitality.

35 You had two children with your first partner. You separated from him because you believed him to be immature and incapable of being a responsible parent.

36 You re-partnered and had four more children. You lived with your husband and children on a small farm for a time. Your husband was controlling and, over time, became increasingly angry and emotionally cruel. Eventually you separated from him and won custody of your children.

37 To support them, you retrained as a phlebotomist.

38 When you offended your two younger children were living with you.

39 You have no history of substance abuse or mental health problems.

40 A psychologist, Geoffrey Burrows assessed you in August 2025[4].

41 You told him your daughter introduced you to a man who offered you a beach holiday in Australia in exchange for bringing the three bottles with you. You acknowledged your role in the importation and recognised the harm caused. You expressed remorse for your wrongdoing and the harm potentially caused.

42 Understandably, because it is your first time in prison, your experience on remand has been particularly challenging. You are anxious about the outcome of your prosecution and worry for your younger children who have been left in their father's care. Because of different time zones, communication with your family is difficult. Numerous rolling lockdowns[5], often due to staff shortages, have exacerbated the restrictions and isolation of prison.

43 To Mr Burrows you presented with symptoms of anxiety, depression and hypervigilance. In his opinion, considering your early relational trauma, and current predicament, you meet the diagnostic criteria for a stressor-related disorder and would benefit from psychological intervention.

44 In prison you have had very limited access to health care. However, a prison network worker has been a support for you[6]. She describes you "as a quiet, reserved woman who keeps to herself in prison and has been a model prisoner"[7]. She has seen you very emotional and distressed, particularly because of your separation from your children. You have been twice hospitalised for heart abnormalities. She has worked at DPFC for 29 years. She believes your time in custody, in a foreign country, has been extremely difficult for you and the likelihood of your reoffending is very low.

45 Your 13 year-old daughter and 15 year-old son both wrote despairing letters[8]. They miss you terribly. Their father drinks and smokes "weed". He is a very neglectful parent. At times they rely on their older siblings to send groceries so they have food to eat. Your daughter stays at home, spending a lot of time in her room, because she fears her father's anger.[9] Without parental guidance or supervision, your son is roaming and getting into trouble at school.[10]

46 A lifelong friend describes you as a mother devoted to her children who adore you [11]. According to her, while their father works and provides financially, he struggles with addiction and neglects the children. She and other friends and family are providing the children food and "basics". Your son sleeps on a couch and spends more time at friends' houses than at home. Your friend sees your children's circumstances as so dreadful she would care for them but for her belief their father would not allow it.

47 The sentencing principles in federal drug importation cases are well established. [13]

48 Because of the difficulty in detecting the offending and the great harm stemming from the distribution of illicit drugs in the community, general deterrence is to be given chief weight.

49 And, for involvement at any level, an offender should expect a significant sentence.

50 Because narcotics importation is a federal offence, I must determine your sentence in accordance with Part 1B of the Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914 ("the Act")

51 Under s16A of the Act, I am required to impose a sentence that is of a severity that is appropriate in all the circumstances of your offence.

52 I am also required to have regard to the non-exhaustive list of matters set out in subsection 16(A)(2) of the Act as far as they are relevant and known to the court.

53 Under section 17A of the Act, a court shall not impose a sentence of imprisonment for a federal offence unless it is satisfied no other sentence is appropriate.

54 Only the imposition of a prison term, with a non-parole period fixed, is the appropriate sentence for your crime[14].

55 The prosecution referred me to some intermediate appellate commercial quantity importation cases, which involved couriers importing similar quantities of cocaine to yours for modest return.[15] They identified a sentencing range of 6 years and 6 months to 9 years' imprisonment. I have used them as a yardstick to measure your sentence.

56 There are significant mitigating factors in your favour which I take into account to moderate the head sentence and non-parole period I will impose.

57 First, you are entitled to a demonstrable sentencing benefit for your guilty plea[16], made at the earliest opportunity, for its utilitarian value[17] and your willingness to facilitate the course of justice, as well as your acceptance of responsibility for your actions.

58 Second, you cooperated with authorities when you were apprehended. You admitted you packed the bottles into your luggage and were aware they contained something illicit. You gave police your phone and its passcode which enabled them to access your incriminating communications with your daughter[18].

59 Third, I accept you are remorseful[19]. I accept your expressions of shame and contrition, not only for your wrongdoing but for the potential harm to others, are genuine.

(a) your isolation from family and friends;[20]

(b) your anguish at your inability to care for your two young children; and

(c) the increased isolation and restrictions of numerous rolling lockdowns

61 Fifth, I accept your younger children are vulnerable and your incarceration has caused them significant ongoing hardship[21].

62 Sixth, considering the situational nature of your offending, your otherwise law-abiding life and devotion to family and your desire to resume caring for children when you are released, I assess your prospects of rehabilitation to be excellent.[22]

63 Ms Delano, by the sentence I impose, I must denounce your conduct, punish you, and deter you and others from committing crimes of the same or similar kind.

65 Considering the circumstances of your offending, your personal circumstances and antecedents, and endeavouring to produce a sentence which reflects and promotes the purposes of sentencing in a manner appropriate to you, on the charge of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, you are sentenced to 6 years' imprisonment which is to commence today.

66 To mitigate your punishment in favour of your rehabilitation through conditional freedom, I direct you serve 3 years of your sentence before you are eligible for parole.

67 I declare you have already served 221 days of your sentence by way of

68 While there is some artificiality in the process, I declare, but your guilty plea, I would have sentenced you to eight years' imprisonment and fixed a minimum non-parole period of five years.

[1] The circumstances of your offending are summarised in the amended summary of prosecution opening (Exhibit A). It contains agreed facts.

[2] R v Nguyen; R v Pham [2010] NSWCCA 238; (2010) 205 A Crim R 106, at [72].

[3] Your personal circumstances as set out in the psychological report of Mr Geoffrey Burrows dated 4 September 2025 (Exhibit 2).

[5] see memorandum (rolling lockdowns) (Exhibit 3), schedule of lockdowns spreadsheet (Exhibit and your diary of lockdowns (Exhibit 10)

[8] Daughter's letter (Exhibit 8); son's letter (Exhibit 7)

[11] letter from Crista Legg dated 9 September 2025 (Exhibit 9)

[12] I have carefully considered the written and oral submissions of prosecution and defence to determine the sentence I will impose (see Crown submissions on sentence (Exhibit B); Crown comparative sentencing schedule (Exhibit C) and defence outline of plea submissions (Exhibit 1)).

[13] R v Nguyen; R v Pham [2010] NSWCCA 238; (2010) 205 A Crim R 106, [72].

[14] in reaching this conclusion I have carefully considered the helpful written and oral submissions of both prosecution (Exhibit B) and defence (Exhibit 1)

[15] Rivero v R [2025] VSCA 144 (6 years and 6 months); Martinez v R [2020] NSW CCA 250 (7 years); Estevez v R [2020] NSW CCA 184 (7 years); R v Cunha; R v Rosso Bernardo [2017] QCA 6 (9 years)

[17] Lieu v The Queen [2016] VSCA 277

[20] DPP (Cth) v Estrada & Ors [2015] VSCA 22, [38]

[21] s 16A (2) (p)of the Act_; Mohamed v The Queen_ [2022] VSCA 136, [81]-[93]