KEY POINTS:
Auckland fashion designer Jason Crawford is appealing his conviction for drugs and receiving stolen property.
The 37-year-old was today jailed for six years. He was found guilty last November of cultivating cannabis, selling cannabis and receiving stolen property amounting to $380,000.
In 2005 Crawford opened fashion week but his once successful fashion label, Insidious Fix, has now been liquidated.
Summing up at the Auckland District Court this afternoon, Judge Mary Beth Sharp said she was sentencing Crawford to six years to deter him and the public from committing these types of offences in future.
Crown prosecutor Bruce Northwood argued for a starting point of 10 years, given the professional nature of Crawford's cannabis operation and the amount of stolen property found in his possession.
"This [operation] has been geared for success and on a grand scale," Mr Northwood said.
After the sentencing, Crawford's lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, said his client's conviction would be appealed.
Mr Gotlieb had argued for a two year home detention sentence, given that Crawford had spent 18 months on home detention, 7 of which were under a 24 hour curfew.
He also told the court that Crawford had been in custody for six months and been through a drug rehabilitation programme. Mr Gotleib did concede that he was "stretching the bow a bit".
Mr Gotlieb told the court that the Crown's proposed sentence of 10 years was longer than what people who were convicted of the Class A drug methamphetamine got.
But Judge Sharp said the offending was serious and fell within the highest category.
The court was yet to decide on a Crown application for Crawford to forfeit more than $450,000 worth of assets under the Proceeds of Crimes Act.
Crawford's father and supporters were in court to hear the sentence handed down but apart from a brief raise of the eyebrows, Crawford did not acknowledge the public gallery.
In last year's trial the jury heard how Crawford and an associate, Frances Kitson, had established an elaborate cannabis operation inside a group of stolen shipping containers set up with irrigation, extractor fans, and lamps.
They also heard how police found stolen property which included a campervan, a jetski, photographic equipment and a cornet.
The charges were laid after police raided an Onehunga warehouse in November, 2005 and found $1 million worth of cannabis, ranging from seedlings to fully grown plants.
Police raided two more properties where they found the stolen property, remnants of another cannabis operation and Mr Crawford hiding in the roof.
Mr Gotlieb says he is pleased the sentencing is over. He says they are now waiting on the appeal for conviction which will be held later this year.
- NZPA, TRN
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