Two brothers who served Wangaratta’s drug bosses with violence and intimidation have been served with jail time by the courts.
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Matthew “Robbo” Robinson, 32, and younger brother Jamie “General Jimbo” Robinson were two of about 50 people involved in a drug syndicate during 2014.
They both came undone when they were busted as police intercepted ringleader Jessica Fogarty’s phone calls during the investigation.
Matthew was known for using his physical size to enforce drug debts and sourcing ice from a bikie gang in Shepparton.
He had been out on bail after serving 94 days on remand since his arrest in 2014, but was put back in custody when he was sentenced in Melbourne County Court on Wednesday.
Matthew will spend a total of 12 months in jail for one count of trafficking methamphetamine and then complete a 12-month community corrections order on his release.
Jamie, 30, received 18 months jail for charges of trafficking methamphetamine and OxyContin and possessing methamphetamine.
But he had already spent 552 days in pre-sentence detention so he could walk free, also to complete a 12-month community corrections order. Prosecutor Max Perry had told the court Jamie was the “muscle”.
He was heard on phone intercepts to say “I’ll run through all the houses, they don’t know what I’m like” and “I need a good puff to clear my head and go and do damage and wreck people”.
Solicitor Zarah Garde-Wilson said Matthew was a family man with a partner and three daughters and his drug addiction started when he was made redundant from his job.
Judge Frank Gucciardo said Matthew’s prospects of rehabilitation were good, as long as he remained free from drugs.
The small amount of time served in custody so far was not enough considering the seriousness of the crime.
“The offending took place in the context of a drug addiction, which does not provide an explanation or an excuse – that addiction I am told has now ceased,” he said.
“Drug trafficking is an evil and socially damaging trade which creates misery and costs in our society in terms of health, law enforcement.
“It is destructive of social structures, it erodes family and human relations, it creates waves of consequential crime to name but a few … in an area like a regional centre, this effect is even more enhanced.”
