29 Jan 2016

Man jailed for 'sophisticated' drug operation

2:29 pm on 29 January 2016

A man who admitted his involvement in a cannabis cultivation operation described by a judge as "planned, sophisticated and premeditated" has been jailed for three and a half years.

Mason Tobin, 28, was sentenced in the Wellington District Court today on nine charges, including cultivating cannabis and supplying it.

The cannabis was grown at five places in the Wellington region between 2007 and 2013, and Tobin had significant involvement with three of those areas.

Judge Bruce Davidson said at least 125 plants were grown, with a total value of more than $150,000.

Tobin's lawyer said his client did not take part in the cultivation for personal financial gain but from a misguided sense of family loyalty.

In sentencing, the judge gave Tobin credit for pleading guilty, for remorse, and for the fact that his guilty plea led several of his co-accused to also plead guilty.