A BUSY Maitland methamphetamine dealer who battled massive debt, unhappy customers, PTSD and crippling drug and poker machine addiction as he supplied more than a kilogram of ice has been jailed for a maximum of five years.
John William Edmiston, now 41, admitted on Thursday that he was "f---ing up society'" by supplying more than 1.1 kilograms of methamphetamine over 43 separate transactions between October, 2022 and February 2023.
"I just wish I had never done it," Edmiston said. "I feel shit. I am disappointed in myself. You are just f---ing up society."
Edmiston, who has spent the majority of the last decade behind bars and has twice previously been jailed for supplying drugs, had pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine, which carries a maximum of life imprisonment.
As the Newcastle Herald reported in May, around the time a three-month covert investigation into his busy drug supply operation was closing in, Edmiston was having issues on several fronts.
He owed more than $50,000 to his up-line supplier, his customers were unhappy about the quality of the product and rumour had it that, rather than paying back what he owed, he was putting the proceeds of his operation through the poker machines.
As one contact put it, the word on the street was he was "slapping flat out".
By February 1, 2023 he had an even bigger problem; he had been arrested, charged and would soon have his parole revoked.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Edmiston first came up on their radar when police were monitoring the phone of another drug dealer and spotted the pair exchanging messages about supplying ice.
Between October 6, 2022 and February 3 last year police intercepted messages relating to Edmiston supplying more than 1.1 kilograms of methamphetamine over 43 separate transactions.
He was dealing in thousands and often tens of thousands of dollars and on one occasion swapped 187 grams of ice after a dispute over quality.
Extracts from the text and encrypted messages show Edmiston was always busy negotiating and would meet his customers in car parks.
But in January, he began having issues with the product he was getting from an up-line supplier.
"So this stuff is f---ed, it's not like what we have smoked [before]," Edmiston wrote on encrypted messaging service Signal. "It chokes me out when I've tried to smoke it and I've had at least 14 people come back going off about it aye. "It's f---ed, I can't smoke it or do anything."
Questioned by his supplier about the $51,000 he owed for 285 grams of ice and allegations he was putting the proceeds of his operation into the poker machines, Edmiston blamed the "shit gear", which he said was ruining his reputation.
As Edmiston struggled to keep his head above water, the walls were closing in.
On February 1, police went to Turton Street at East Maitland to look for him.
They were conducting checks on a vehicle outside his house when he emerged from inside and began walking towards Barton Street.
When police called out he turned and ran. Officers gave chase and caught him in his front yard. They wrestled and Edmiston was arrested. A search of his pockets and his "man bag" would later reveal about $1800, 50 grams of ice, 17 grams of MDMA and a small quantity of cocaine.
He claimed the cash had been won on the poker machines the night before, but he was arrested and charged and police began using his phone to piece together his drug supply operation.
Judge David Wilson on Thursday said Edmiston had shown remorse and some insight into the impact of methamphetamine on the community.
And while his prospects for rehabilitation were "guarded", he said there was a link between his offending and diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Judge Wilson jailed Edmiston for a maximum of five years, with a non-parole period of two years and six months, making him eligible for parole in July 2025.
