A South Australian man has been sentenced to more than three years in jail after admitting to growing hundreds of cannabis plants on Crown land.
Ronald Herbert Nieuwenhuizen, 54, was immediately taken into custody after being sentenced in the District Court in Mount Gambier on Friday.
He had pleaded guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of a controlled plant.
The court heard police searched a property at Beachport, on South Australia's Limestone Coast, in November 2020 after receiving reports of an illegal firearm.
Officers instead found two plastic resealable bags containing cannabis, 54 cannabis seedlings and 345 immature cannabis plants growing over the fence on Crown land.
The owner of the property denied knowledge of the plants, leading police to search a caravan on the property in which Nieuwenhuizen was living.
'Sophisticated operation'
The court heard the "large-scale cannabis enterprise" was a joint agreement between Nieuwenhuizen and two friends.
Judge Geraldine Davison said Nieuwenhuizen had used his gardening experience to make a profit.
The court heard it was Nieuwenhuizen's role to prepare pots and to grow and tend to the plants.
Judge Davison said it was a "well-planned and sophisticated operation", with photographs showing the extent of the plantings.
The court heard Nieuwenhuizen, a father of two, was living in a Mount Gambier caravan park and had dealt with periods of homelessness during his life.
Judge Davison said he was unemployed because of his health issues.
The court heard Nieuwenhuizen had some history of theft and driving offences.
At the time of the offending, he had been "drinking heavily" and consuming drugs.
But Judge Davison acknowledged Nieuwenhuizen had taken "steps to turn his life around", including seeing a psychologist for his mental health and undergoing drug and alcohol counselling.
She said there was no good reason to suspend Nieuwenhuizen's sentence.
He was sentenced to three years, four months and 25 days in jail with a non-parole period of one year.
He will be eligible for parole in one year.
