An Australian judge has praised a drug dealer's "good business model", after he narrowly avoided a jail sentence for his methamphetamine dealing.
Justice Ann Lyons encouraged 20-year-old Brodie Gary Satterley to use his business skills for good, saying he "clearly [was] quite intelligent".
"Can I say that if you actually did some more study you could really make something of yourself?" she said at Brisbane's Supreme Court on Wednesday, according to Australian media.
"So please don't come back to court again."
As an 18-year-old, Satterley was engaged in low-level methamphetamine dealing, running a system which included seeking customer feedback, holding business strategy meetings, charging interest on debts and actively responding to complaints with refunds.
He was busted in 2015 after police found him under the influence in a parked car on the side of the road.
When his car was searched, officers found drugs, and when his phone was examined, his dealing was exposed.
The court heard Satterley had grown up in poverty with a violent and alcoholic father, and a drug-addicted mother.
His mother revealed his poor upbringing in a letter read in court by Justice Lyons on Wednesday.
"Brodie never had guidance from us both, he was never taught right from wrong," she said.
Justice Lyons sentenced Satterley to three years jail with immediate parole, saying he had shown his determination to turn his life around in the past two years.
She also encouraged him to continue his work in business, telling him he had "quite good skills".
"It obviously wasn't the best business, but it's a good business model," Justice Lyons said.
Newshub.
