Shawn Legro, 44, was caught by police with almost 500g of cannabis at his Ballarat home on July 17, and pleaded guilty to trafficking at Ballarat Magistrates Court. 

Legro, who police alleged had been trafficking cannabis intermittently for his adult life, received a 12-month community correction order. 

Leading Senior Constable Pepe Brown said police searched Legro’s property on July 17 and found seven zip-lock bags containing cannabis with a street value of $6000.

The court heard that Legro admitted to selling cannabis to a nucleus of friends to sustain a marijuana habit he had developed at a young age. 

Defence Lawyer Mike Wardell said Legro, who used cannabis to help with his bipolar condition, had been cannabis-free for two months.

“The scope and scale (of drug trafficking) is purely directed at sustaining his habit,” he said.

Magistrate Duncan Reynolds said Legro had displayed a significant turnaround in his drug use since the offence.

“If there’s a propensity toward mental illness, cannabis continues to exacerbate that in no uncertain way,” he said.

“You sold it and you were doing no favours to your friends by doing so.”