A Lawson man is behind bars after a police raid at his home uncovered a stash of drugs, prescription medication and a replica AK-47 gun. He had been on an intensive correction order at the time.
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Joshua Asfour was described as a "street-level dealer" in the ACT Magistrates Court when he was sentenced for trafficking a controlled drug, possessing a declared substance without authorisation and possessing a prohibited firearm.
Asfour, who is in his 20s, was arrested in December 2020 when police executed a search warrant at his Lawson home.
In Asfour's bedroom, police found about 35 grams of cocaine inside a Louis Vuitton bag, along with scales, clip seal bags, a small grinder and a plastic bag containing a common cocaine cutting agent called "inositol".
Asfour, who worked as a tiler, also admitted to having a gel blaster replica of an AK-47 automatic rifle, found behind the mirror in his bedroom.
A range of prescription medications were also found in the home, including diazepam and clonazepam tablets, as well as fentanyl and buprenorphine patches.
Asfour explained he had the prescription medication because he "owed money to those who owned drugs" which were previously seized from him when he was charged and sentenced for similar offending in 2020.
Asfour was halfway through a 15-month intensive correction order for that offending when police raided his home and arrested him.
Asfour pleaded guilty to all charges the morning his hearing was set to begin.
A recently published decision shows prosecutor Elizabeth Wren last month told the court Asfour was a "street-level dealer" due to "the presence of a grinder and cutting agent".
Asfour's lawyer, Tim Sharman, argued Asfour, who recently got married, was now "of a productive lifestyle in terms of work and commitment to his family".
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said "the offender made a deliberate choice to engage in serious criminal offending despite being given the opportunity to rehabilitate for prior similar offending in the community".
She did not cancel Asfour's intensive correction order, which he breached, but sentenced the tiler to 19 months in jail, with a non-parole period of 12 months.
Asfour, who will be eligible for release in June 2023, was also fined $8500 but given no time to pay.
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