A woman accused of murder used a drone to fly $119,000 worth of drugs as well as a USB drive containing pornography into a prison.
Cheyenne Anniki Petryszyn, 27, faced Brisbane Supreme Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated supply of dangerous drugs in a correctional facility.
Petryszyn's co-accused, Cory Jay Sinclair Keleher, 33, pleaded guilty to two of the same counts and Bradley William Knudson, 37, pleaded guilty to one count.
The court heard staff at a Queensland prison found a drone crashed close to an exercise yard at 10.47am on April 1, 2022 with a clip seal bag nearby that contained 79 strips of Buprenorphine, 0.94 grams of methamphetamine and the USB drive.
A crown prosecutor said the price for Buprenorphine in prisons ran from $1000 to $1500 per strip while the meth was worth about $480.
Petryszyn was on parole at the time but returned to custody to serve out an 11-year sentence for unrelated drug trafficking.
She is also one of four people charged with murder over the shooting of a man at Norman Park in Brisbane's east in October 2022.
The prosecutor said Petryszyn's role in the scheme was to procure the drugs for Knudson to distribute inside the prison.
Keleher, who had been released from custody on the day the drone was found, was recruited to detail the prison's layout to Petryszyn but it was unknown who had been controlling the drone in flight.
"Officers monitored calls from nearby (cell blocks) and identified conversations between Knudson and Petryszyn making arrangements for the offending," the prosecutor said.
The pair attempted to disguise their conversations as a chat about a fishing trip but Petryszyn said on the phone that "everything crashed and burned" at a time after the drone failed.
The drone's barcode was traced to a sale made to Petryszyn the previous month.
Knudson's defence barrister Michael Connolly said his client had a traumatic childhood and he had offered to plead guilty months ago.
"That shows he has remorse and recognises his behaviour," Mr Connolly said.
Keleher's barrister Gavin Webber said his client had a abusive childhood and had a history of mental health issues.
"He is working on his drug addictions ... he has turned a corner," Mr Webber said.
Barrister Samuel Bain asked Justice Elizabeth Wilson not to impose a "crushing" sentence on Petryszyn as the law required any new prison time to be served consecutively.
Justice Wilson said all three defendants had attempted to supply a large amount of drugs into a prison, where it would have disrupted attempts at rehab and discipline.
Justice Wilson said she also recognised that Knudson and Keleher had made efforts at rehabilitation and Petryszyn was already serving a lengthy sentence.
Knudson was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and Keleher 16 months but both were ordered released on parole on Friday.
Petryszyn was sentenced to 16 months but was also eligible for parole from Friday.
Australian Associated Press
