A WARRNAMBOOL man with no prior court appearances who was caught ice trafficking three times in three weeks has been released from jail after an appeal.
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Cohen Porter, 20, of Banyan Street, pleaded guilty during July in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to trafficking ice and weapons offences and was jailed for six months to be followed by a 15 month community corrections order.
He appealed against the severity of the sentence and judge John Smallwood in the Warrnambool County Court imposed a reduced sentence on Tuesday.
Judge Smallwood said Porter would either get his act together or not and dropped the CCO.
He also reduced the jail term to time already served, 131 days, and Porter was released from custody on Tuesday afternoon.
His grandparents and mother attended court and indicated they were willing to support Porter.
Previously police said that in August last year Porter was intercepted in Warrnambool and found in his car was a hunting knife and three samurai swords.
On May 31 this year Porter was pulled over in McGregors Road and a baseball bat was found in his car.
Also discovered were numerous zip lock bags, scales, two sets of knuckle dusters, a drink container with a secret compartment, a mobile phone and $1190 cash.
In a sock was .45 grams of ice and an ice pipe and there was a deal bag in his underpants.
When the phone was examined messages indicated Porter had been dealing drugs for a month.
The next day Porter was pulled over again in Fitzroy Road at just after 2.30pm.
Officers found one gram of cannabis and 3.5 grams of ice, valued at $3500, in Porter's underwear and an ice pipe in a sock.
Porter had a new mobile phone which had been activated just after noon.
There were already a number of messages on the phone requesting drugs.
Porter told police he sold drugs to fund his own habit.
At 5.15pm on June 16 police intercepted a black Holden near Allansford.
The driver tested positive to drugs and a search found a small black magnetic case in the engine bay which was designed to look like part of the engine.
It contained 28 grams of ice valued at about $28,000.
Porter, the driver and another man were arrested.
Porter claimed ownership of the drugs, saying he didn’t want the driver to get into trouble.
Defence counsel Andrew Tweedly said his client had no prior court appearances but had started using drugs when he was 14-years-old and got involved in the drug culture.