A "STAY-at-home dad" happily accepted an offer of $20,000 to take the rap for a drug charge, the Supreme Court in Launceston has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Scott Wayne Evenett, 25, of Ulverstone, and Launceston's Clint Graeme Stanisz have pleaded not guilty to trafficking more than four ounces of methylamphetamine in Launceston.
The stimulant, which sells for up to $6000 an ounce, was found by the Launceston drug squad in a fridge at Mr Stanisz's Kings Meadows home on August 3, 2011.
Within days, Mr Evenett walked into Launceston police headquarters and admitted transporting the drugs from the North-West to Launceston.
The reason? He's was getting paid to say it, he claimed yesterday from the witness box.
Mr Evenett said a man, who he named but The Examiner has chosen not to identify, came to his home "to speak to me about taking the rap for a charge".
The man, whom he first met in a pub in Devonport "near the Bluff", said police had raided a Launceston house and found a bag of speed, Mr Evenett said.
His counsel Evan Hughes asked how he felt about the offer.
"I was pretty happy, $20,000, I needed money," he said.
"Were you paid?" Mr Hughes asked.
"Not all of it," he said.
Mr Evenett said he was paid $13,000 which he spent on a vehicle for his girlfriend and presents for his son's birthday.
He also paid off a $6000 loan he'd got from a friend to play the pokies, he said.
Mr Evenett said he last saw the man asking him to take the rap about nine months before the offer.
However, he later told the court he'd given the man the keys to Mr Stanisz's home about a week before the raid because the man was going to Launceston.
Mr Evenett said he had a set of keys to the home of Mr Stanisz, a decade-long friend, because he was seeing a woman in Launceston.
Crown prosecutor Peter Sherriff asked if the loan from his friend needed to be paid urgently.
"No, I was making payments." he said.
Mr Stanisz has pleaded not guilty with his counsel Adrian Hall arguing his client had no knowledge at all about the drugs in his home, which several people had access to.
Mr Stanisz told the court he'd been staying at the Shearwater Resort in Devonport at the time of the raid.
He said two electronic scales, that showed traces of meth, found in his home during the raid were his and were used to measure butter when making scones.
The trial continues today.
