Pancrazio Mazza, 30, of Shepparton, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to two counts of trafficking cocaine, being a prohibited person possessing a firearm, being a prohibited person possessing an imitation firearm, possessing a prohibited weapon and two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Brent O’Grady told the court Mazza was a member of a drug trafficking syndicate associated with the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
He said Mazza and two other men went to Seymour on June 21, where 83.8 grams of cocaine was sold to undercover police officers by one of the other men for $21,900.
The same man allegedly sold the undercover police a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun for $4500 the same day, Leading Senior Constable O’Grady said.
At the time Mazza was a “prohibited person” under the Firearms Act and was not allowed to possess or carry a firearm.
The court heard that on July 4, Mazza, the two men from the June 21 incident and a third man again travelled to Seymour to sell drugs to undercover police.
The same man that had sold the drugs to police on June 21, had again organised the sale of 112.1 g of cocaine for $29,200 to the undercover police, Leading Sen Constable O’Grady said.
Twenty-three days later, police found a shotgun, three boxes of 12-gauge ammunition, knuckle dusters, scales and zip-lock bags in Mazza’s bedroom at the Shepparton house he shared with the fourth man, who was at the July 4 drug sale, Leading Sen Constable O’Grady said.
A gel blaster imitation firearm was also found in a wardrobe of a common area at the house and a 12-gauge shotgun shell was found in the lounge-room.
Mazza’s barrister Tom Battersby told the court it was not alleged his client was in contact with the undercover police officers but he accepted that Mazza drove the vehicle and was present at the sale of the drugs and gun.
“It was something he got mixed up in,” Mr Battersby said.
The barrister argued Mazza had been living with one of the co-accused and “was asked to come along”.
“He had no role in sourcing the drugs or firearm involved,” Mr Battersby said.
Magistrate David Faram, however, said Mazza was an “active participant”.
“He drove the vehicle twice. He was involved in the handover,” Mr Faram said.
Mr Battersby told the court Mazza, a dual Australian and Italian citizen, was born in Sicily, Italy and lived there for four years as a child before moving to Australia in 2018, and had no prior criminal history.
Magistrate Faram ordered Mazza be assessed for a community corrections order, saying this “may form part of” a sentence.
Mazza will return to court in October.
