A Bundalong man who was found with a significant amount of the illicit drug ice for sale in his home is looking at a long stint in jail.
Hayden Ellis, 39, faced Wangaratta County Court from Ravenhall Correctional Centre this week to plead guilty to three charges relating to drug trafficking and possession.
The court heard on 7 August, 2024 police raided a Bundalong home occupied by the defendant and a 36-year-old woman.
The accused had custody of his seven-year-old son, who was present at the address during the offending.
After Ellis was arrested for not giving the passcode to his phone, a sniffer dog led police to a cupboard underneath a sink in the main bathroom.
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Officers opened a concealed cavity inside the vanity cupboard and located one container and three zip lock bags containing a total of 226g of methylamphetamine.
The drugs had significantly high purity readings of more than 80 per cent and Ellis’ DNA was detected on one of the bags.
A black lockable tin on the loungeroom couch was found to have contained more meth as well as small amounts of cannabis, MDMA, codeine and an envelope with $6900 cash.
In the bedroom police found two stolen bank cards and glass pipes.
The court heard Ellis was on bail during his offending.
The drug bust came after an extensive police investigation into drug trafficking and gun possession which involved the arrest of three others - the 36-year-old woman, a 21-year-old Yarrawonga man and a 24-year-old Yarrawonga man.
The woman was sentenced to 62 days jail and an 18-month community corrections order for drug possession and failure to comply with police.
The 21-year-old was sentenced to 200 hours of community work for drug trafficking and helping hide a double barrel shotgun, which was found in the 24-year-old’s father’s home.
Ellis has been in custody for 390 days since the offending, having bail refused on 29 May last year.
Ellis’ father appeared at court to give evidence and said his son had no one to blame but himself.
He said he had housed the 39-year-old since 2019 to help him raise Ellis' son and to assist with ongoing symptoms of Guillain barre syndrome, which nearly took Ellis’ life in 2013.
Ellis’ father said his son relapsed when he started spending time with his ex-partner and he kicked him out of the house.
“When he uses [drugs] he is just a completely different person,” he said.
“You can’t talk to him, that’s why I asked him to leave.”
The 39-year-old and the woman had only been living at the Bundalong address for just over a month when he was arrested.
The court heard Ellis’ father was applying for custody of his grandson and would accept Ellis back into his home upon release.
Judge Pardeep Tiwana said the trafficking of ice just under the commercial amount was a significant offence and a prison sentence with a non-parole period would be likely.
Judge Tiwana said he was guarded about Ellis’s prospects for rehabilitation, having been placed on three separate community corrections orders in the past.
Ellis will be sentence at the Melbourne County Court on 1 December and remains in custody until sentencing.
