FOUR more drug or gun dealers have been sentenced after they were caught up in the Tamworth 'ice castle' sting.
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Three men - Ashley John Hoye, Steven Erby Johnson and Cory Alan Cloake - as well as Simone Leah Hatch have all been given 25 per cent discounts for their early guilty pleas.
The four were just some of 30 arrested in the Strike Force Radius police sting that exposed the gun and ice dealing ring, operating out of the 'ice castle' in Petra Avenue in South Tamworth.
Hoye won't taste freedom until at least mid-2023 after he was jailed for five years by Acting Judge Mark Marien.
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He was jailed in Tamworth District Court for supplying more than an indictable quantity of methylamphetamine, or ice.
He will have to spend a minimum of three years in custody before he's eligible for parole. And after time served, he could be released onto parole in June 2023.
Judge Marien recommended the parole board consider a drug rehabilitation program as a condition of his release.
Hatch will serve out her jail term in the Tamworth community after she was slapped with an intensive corrections order (ICO) for 18 months.
She was also sentenced in Tamworth District Court this month for supplying more than an indictable quantity of drugs.
As part of the ICO, Judge Marien ordered Hatch to stay out of trouble; be supervised by Community Corrections; and undergo rehabilitation in Tamworth.
She will also have to carry out 80 hours of community service.
Earlier, Johnson was sentenced to five-and-a-half years' imprisonment after a judgment handed down in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.
Acting Judge Jonathan Williams imposed an aggregate - or head sentence - for several offences after Johnson admitted to two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit; and supplying less than a commercial quantity of drugs.
Charges of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime; supplying an indictable quantity of prohibited drugs; and two charges of possessing prohibited weapons were taken into account in sentencing.
Johnson will have to serve three years and six months behind bars before he's eligible for parole in August 2022.
He was sentenced in a Sydney court for unlawfully selling firearms on more than three occasions within a year; and supplying more than an indictable quantity of drugs.
Acting Judge Williams ordered he spend a minimum of three-and-a-half years in custody, and after time served, he will be eligible for parole in November 2022.
He had 11 charges including impersonating a police officer; supplying and possessing drugs; holding ammunition; recruiting others for criminal activity; supplying an unregistered gun; using a stolen firearm part; and supplying a shortened firearm taken into account in sentencing.
Several other co-accused have already been jailed for drug and gun supply, while the more will be sentenced later this year.
Breanna Chillingworth
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
