A TAMWORTH man will be sentenced later this year after admitting to buying 150 ecstasy pills that he intended to on-sell.
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Dylan Rutter was caught up in an undercover police sting by Oxley detectives in late-2017 in Calala, before he was arrested two months later.
Rutter - who now lives in Queensland - appeared via phone link in Tamworth District Court on Wednesday where his defence had a win in his bid to strike out a series of "uncharged acts" police had alleged against him.
Rutter has admitted to the supply of 150 MDMA pills, or ecstasy, and obtained the drugs from Tamworth personal trainer Mark McDonald who was jailed for four years for drug dealing.
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The court heard Rutter was caught on police surveillance in discussions with McDonald in November 2017.
Barrister Ben Cochrane said Rutter's plea showed him "coming into possession of 150 tablets".
"By his plea he admits he had those tablets in his possession for the purpose of supply," he told the court.
"He accepts that he had the whole of that amount for the purpose of supply?" Judge Deborah Payne questioned.
"Effectively, yes," Mr Cochrane replied.
The court heard transcripts of discussions between Rutter and McDonald which the Crown had sought to rely on.
DPP solicitor Kat McKay said the evidence was to show "some prior activity consistent with supply", and "a degree of planning".
"The offence to which he is charged is not an isolated one," she told the court, but conceded he was only charged with one allegation.
The defence opposed the document detailing the uncharged acts and Judge Payne later found favour with them and rejected it.
But Mr Cochrane conceded with Judge Payne that he wasn't going to label Rutter a "novice".
People who buy 150 tablets ... they have to know someone, they have to have some involvement.
- Judge Deborah Payne
"People who buy 150 tablets ... they have to know someone, they have to have some involvement," Judge Payne said.
"Someone off the street would have to know someone ... they have to have a market."
Judge Payne said she was not reading anything into previous conversations and ruled that the allegation was "not an isolated occasion" and Rutter won't "seek leniency from that circumstance".
Judge Payne said Rutter's plea was not at the earliest opportunity and "we're still arguing about the facts" so he was not guaranteed a 25 per cent discount.
The case was adjourned to August to fix a date for sentencing. Rutter has been ordered to travel to NSW to meet Community Corrections authorities who will prepare an assessment report to see if there is any community-based sentencing options, and to detail his history and background.
Rutter was initially ordered to stand trial for drug supply after denying the allegations against him. Just weeks out from his trial date, he pleaded guilty in October 2019.
But in an unusual court backflip he was again ordered to stand trial when a judge rejected his plea when his defence took issue with "uncharged acts" raised by the Crown. At the time, it emerged the Crown prosecutor planned to enter covert phone recordings from co-accused McDonald's house into evidence.
After more negotiations, Rutter pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Rutter is the last of the dealers in the drug ring exposed by the Strike Force Kotzur investigation.
McDonald was the main target of the secret police sting, and was jailed in 2018 for a maximum of four years. He's since been released on parole.
Co-accused Nicholas Hansen was placed on an intensive corrections order - or community-based jail term - while Matthew Hill was convicted and fined for drug supply.
The operation by Oxley detectives was set up to disrupt the supply of drugs such as cocaine and MDMA in Tamworth, before officers pounced on McDonald and later homed in on Hansen, Rutter and Hill.
Rutter was arrested in Tamworth in January 2018 and initially charged with the supply of 350 MDMA tablets that took place in November 2017 at Calala. He served three months behind bars before he was granted bail by a NSW Supreme Court judge in April that year.