The moral here...dont sell drugs unless your a cop.......

~Wolf From Atlanta~
[Oz] Three weeks prison for drug cop
Thu May 27, 2004 12:53pm
209.86.135.14

Three weeks prison for drug cop
By Gavin Lower
May 26, 2004

A HIGHLY decorated former Tasmania Police officer who admitted dealing in drugs is a free man.

Michael Andrew Harvey served less than three weeks in custody before being sentenced yesterday in the Hobart Magistrates Court for possessing and selling ecstasy.

But he will serve no more time in jail if he is of good behaviour after Magistrate Sam Mollard suspended the bulk of his sentence.

Mr Mollard said the police force and the community would be ashamed of Harvey's actions.

"For me, the bottom line is that many people might have come to know the defendant was a police officer, and many more know now and will know of his corruption," he said.

"The reputation of the police force can be taken to have suffered significantly.

"In addition it seems to me that conduct like this by a police officer can tend to lend legitimacy to a drug culture."

Mr Mollard said that on any view the charges encompassed "very serious criminal conduct".

"The activities covered by the complaint clearly involves a busy operation," he said.

The court heard Harvey, 34, was caught with 84 ecstasy tablets, two deal bags of methamphetamine and two of ketamine when police raided his Montagu St home in New Town on May 20 last year.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing a controlled drug and selling a controlled drug in Hobart between June 2002 and May last year.

The court heard his year-long dealing would have produced a turnover of about $20,000.

Harvey received orders for drugs by text messages on his mobile phone, which continued to arrive even while he was being questioned by police.

Mr Mollard said while he thought 12 months in jail was an appropriate sentence, he saw little value in sending Harvey back to jail for a few more weeks.

He backdated the sentence to when Harvey was taken into custody on May 6 and suspended the rest of the sentence from yesterday on a four-year good behaviour condition.

Mr Mollard said there were significant mitigating factors in the case, including the co-operation Harvey had given to the authorities and his considerable remorse.

Outside court Harvey's friends and family hugged each other, clearly relieved at Mr Mollard's decision.

Harvey refused to speak as he left the court other than agreeing he was relieved the matter was over and that he would be going back to work. The court was told he was working for a Hobart law firm.

At Harvey's last court appearance Mr Mollard was told Harvey had been a member of the state's elite Special Operations Group and a 10-year veteran of the force.

His lawyer, Michael Daly, told the court Harvey became addicted to drugs after he succumbed to work and relationship pressures.

Prosecutors said yesterday two more people were facing charges arising from the case, and consideration was being given to charging others.

The Sunday Mail (Qld)