A former army rifleman who purchased 45 grams of cocaine to traffic to fellow Australian Defence Force (ADF) soldiers has been spared jail.
Brett McMaster, 24, appeared in the Supreme Court of Queensland in Townsville on Monday and pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine in 2024.
McMaster served in the Australian Army’s Townsville-based armoured infantry battalion, 3RAR, as a rifleman and field medic.
The court heard that during his service he purchased 45 grams of cocaine over six weeks from fellow soldier Jack Alex Cullen.
Jack Alex Cullen, 25, was jailed for trafficking cocaine in May. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
Cullen was jailed in May after pleading guilty to trafficking large quantities of cocaine whilst serving as an army infantry soldier.
The Supreme Court heard McMaster paid Cullen in cash, and at times placed the payments in Cullen’s army backpack at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.
Justice Christopher Johnstone KC, who has been deployed in active service for the Royal Australian Air Force, called McMaster’s conduct “offensive”.
“You offended whilst you had the honour and the privilege of being a member of the Australian Defence Force,” he said.
“An honour, a privilege and a trust which you abused grossly.“
Justice Christopher Johnstone KC called the conduct by McMaster “offensive”. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)
The court heard that McMaster was discharged from the army due to his failure of a drug test in 2024, which coincided with him being charged.
McMaster’s barrister, Ross Malcomson, provided a psychiatrist report which stated the former soldier self-medicated mental health challenges with cocaine.
Justice Johnstone questioned why the former rifleman texted supplier Cullen stating he was “slowly getting more blokes onto my stuff”.
“That statement is a little at odds with the submissions that have been made about your psychological wellbeing,” he said.
Justice Johnstone accepted submissions from prosecutors that McMaster had ambitions to grow his business before he was caught.
After pleading guilty to a total of two charges, McMaster was sentenced to a four-year prison term that will be suspended for five years so long as he does not reoffend.
He was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine over 12 months for possessing a phone used for drug trafficking.
He must repay the Commonwealth $36,000 from a $50,000 retention bonus he received from the ADF.
He will continue to receive payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs due to injuries sustained in the army.