After 12 years as a public servant at a secretive government intelligence agency, Joshua James Bonazza pursued his dream of becoming a personal trainer. He would end up a drug dealer and money launderer who trafficked cocaine to feed his own addiction.
Bonazza, 42, was handed a more than two-year intensive correction order in the ACT Supreme Court this week. He will also be required to complete 250 hours of community service.
Bonazza had previously pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering.
In June 2023, police searched Bonazza's home and discovered more than 270 grams of cocaine and a large amount of cash, with $14,430 identified as proceeds of crime.
Officers also found multiple handwritten notes with dollar amounts and names related to dealing cocaine.
In her published decision, Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson found Bonazza was a "dealer above street level".
Bonazza had told a report author the crimes were a result of "his own poor choices", the death of a close friend and "being rejected by his friendship group".
He also claimed he was trafficking drugs to support his own cocaine addiction.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson found that while Bonazza was "big noting" himself in phone messages to friends, there was no indication of "significant profit or lavish lifestyle".
Before he was a drug dealer, Bonazza worked as a public servant at the Office of National Assessments for 12 years.
He then left to "pursue his passion for fitness" and started working as a personal trainer until his 2023 arrest.
Now employed installing plumbing insulation, Bonazza told a report author he was "embarrassed and ashamed of being in this situation, however, it had forced him to address his addiction and engage in treatment".
