Bikie boss jailed for meth trafficking
A 46-year-old bikie leader who ran a drug trafficking syndicate using intimidation and threatening violence has been sentenced to 11 years in jail.
A bikie leader has been sentenced to 11 years jail for trafficking methamphetamine. (Photo: AAP)
The high-ranking bikie, whose syndicate was called The Crew, once threatened to put his enforcer in a hole if he was ever betrayed, a court has heard.
Paul Anthony Sullivan, 46, directed the syndicate’s operations from Burpengary, north of Brisbane, for nearly a year.
He sourced up to 22kg of methamphetamine in 11 months in 2015, but distanced himself from the risky aspects of the operation.
Sullivan got others to transport drugs bought from Sydney motorcycle gangs, while directing syndicate members about where they could sell it and how much they must charge.
He managed The Crew “by a process of intimidation and threatening violence”, Brisbane Supreme Court Justice John Bond said on Wednesday.
The person immediately below Sullivan in the syndicate was employed as an enforcer.
“You directed others in the syndicate to collect cash or property in relation to drug transactions and at times you specifically directed others to use threats of violence,” Bond told Sullivan during sentencing.
People were threatened or assaulted over debts and Sullivan told the enforcer he would be “put in a hole” if he betrayed Sullivan.
Bond said Sullivan headed a significant drug operation, buying between one and two kilograms a month for about $98,000 per kilogram.
In mid-2015 Sullivan patched over from the Lone Wolf bikie gang to the Nomads – becoming its national vice-president, Bond told the court.
He is subject to non-association orders in prison, where he has been held since his arrest in December 2015.
Sullivan committed the trafficking while on a suspended sentence after serving six months in jail for other offences.
Bond said the earlier sentencing judge’s hopes for Sullivan’s rehabilitation were unfulfilled.
The father-of-four claimed he started trafficking under financial pressure after hiring out machinery to a mine that was shut down.
He was also addicted to Endone and steroids and a casual cocaine user.
But the judge said he wasn’t persuaded by that “far-fetched” story.
Sullivan was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the trafficking.
He is required to serve 80 per cent of the jail term before becoming eligible for parole.
He is also required to serve the remaining two years and six months of his suspended sentence.
