A FORMER commercial pilot who stole personal data from a Lake Macquarie business and exchanged it for drugs has escaped a full-time prison term.
Nathaniel John Whitehall, 55, was sentenced to an Intensive Correction Order, which includes 100 hours of community service, in Belmont Local Court on Tuesday.
According to a statement of facts tendered to the court, Whitehall obtained copies of bank cards, passports, drivers licences, Medicare cards, marriage certificates and other documents belonging to more than two dozen customers of the business.
He accessed the records as part of the due diligence process when he attempted to buy the business in early 2020.
The statement of facts said the purchasing situation - which did not proceed - gave Whitehall "unfettered access" to the personal details of the business' customers.
Meanwhile, Whitehall came to the attention of police Strike Force Haldi - set up in 2021 to investigate drug supply in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie - while they were monitoring the phone activity of an alleged drug dealer.
Investigators began to suspect Whitehall was using an unconventional payment method, and surveillance on phone calls and text messages led detectives to believe he was trading stolen personal data for drugs.
Covert investigators watched a meeting between Whitehall and the alleged drug dealer outside a Cardiff home in November, 2021, during which Whitehall handed the dealer a folder.
Two months later, police found a folder containing copies of personal documents belonging to multiple people when they raided a Charlestown hotel room being rented by the alleged drug dealer.
Whitehall was arrested in March, 2022, but denied trading documents for drugs. He told police he took papers with him as "a prop" so the drug deals appeared to be business meetings.
He pleaded guilty to three charges in March, when a two-day hearing was due to begin, as the prosecution withdrew more than 20 counts.
Magistrate Stephen Olischlager sentenced Whitehall to a 12-month Intensive Correction Order on Tuesday.
Whitehall was also fined $1000 for two counts of illicit drug possession.
An Intensive Correction Order is viewed by the courts as a custodial sentence served in the community - they replaced suspended jail terms in NSW in 2018. The state's parole authority deals with breaches, and the offender may be ordered to serve their sentence in prison as a result of breaking their conditions.
The former Lake Macquarie resident, an ex-Qantas pilot with two decades of experience, was previously fined $4500 and handed a 12-month good behaviour bond in 2023 after he was convicted of posing as a lawyer - including appearing in court and signing documents while passing himself off as a solicitor.
