Adam Pearce, 39, was found with up to $224,000 worth of heroin and more than $100,000 in cash at his Taylor home in October.

During the raid, police found $106,000 in cash in various places - including $80,000 in a speaker - more than 170 grams of heroin and 1.7 grams of methylamphetamine.

Pearce has pleaded guilty to trafficking a drug other than cannabis, dealing with the proceeds of crime, possessing a drug of dependence and possessing a weapon.

The father-to-be, whose heavily pregnant partner accompanied him during the sentencing hearing, "engaged in a lucrative drug dealing business ... [partially] to fund his own drug habit," Associate Justice Verity McWilliam said.

READ MORE: Drug dealer amassed $158,000 in cash selling heroin to support habit

Associate Justice McWilliam said Pearce made up deals using balloons, bags and rubber bands on the living room table, made deals on the phone and had "pretty blatant" clients.

While Pearce's official source of income was $700 a fortnight from Centrelink, he was found to have thousands in cash stashed in his Gungahlin home.

A published judgment said the heroin found in Pearce's house was equivalent to 1702 individual deals if sold at a point.

The estimated value of the drugs, between $34,057 and $204,349, is based on the street values of different quantities of heroin.

A half-point of heroin (0.05 grams) costs between $50 and $60; it is $70 to $100 for a point (0.1 grams); a half weight is priced $100 to $200; one gram is worth about $400 to $500 and an eight ball costs between $1000 and $1300.

READ MORE: Two charged with trafficking heroin, methadone

Associate Justice McWilliam said Pearce had an "extensive criminal history" in the ACT, but had not successfully stayed clean.

She said Pearce had been afforded a "degree of leniency in the past" because of the "clear link between his offending and his long-standing issues with addiction".

Associate Justice McWilliam said the court should be guarded about Pearce's prospects at rehab, as he had been given past opportunities but relapsed and reoffended.

She said without rehabilitation he was "likely to be in and out of prison for the rest of his life".

Associate Justice McWilliam sentenced Pearce to a suspended three years and six months custodial sentence, with a two-year drug and alcohol treatment order.

"You won't be going into jail today. You'll be doing something much harder," the justice warned.

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"A [drug and alcohol treatment order] is not a soft option on a sentence.

"It is intensive, requires commitment and hard work to succeed, and often participants find the process more difficult than a term of imprisonment."

Pearce and his long-term partner are expecting their first child in mid-April, prompting Associate Justice McWilliam to say he was about to be hit with a "double whammy".

"Your life in the next couple of months is going to be absolutely peak stress," she said.

"[The] beginning of the program and the first couple of months are the absolute hardest.

"But you can do it ... So, don't let me down".

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Pearce will be required to stay in his home from 7pm to 7am except for in a medical emergency and will be supervised by corrective services.

Associate Justice McWilliam said Pearce recalled having a positive upbringing as the eldest of three siblings, has completed Year 12 and hospitality courses and is in a stable long-term relationship.

However, he started smoking heroin at 13-years-old, began regularly injecting it aged 15 and was a long-term drug addict.

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