Mario D’Aloisio jailed for six years for attempting to possess cocaine, MDMA and for possessing stolen money

Mario D’Aloisio lived extravagantly. He had a penchant for expensive luxury vehicles. On a trip to Las Vegas, he stayed at the lavish Bellagio penthouse suite and danced at Coachella in California — one of the most famous music festivals in the world. On his social media profiles, he boasted about partying with American rapper Post Malone. He wore designer threads — Balenciaga, Gucci, Armani. And he enjoyed cocaine-fuelled parties inside Perth’s fanciest hotel rooms. Yet the 30-year-old was unemployed and earned $270 a week in Centrelink payments. So, how did he afford to live this so-called “high life”? That was all revealed in WA’s District Court when earlier this month he was jailed for six years for attempting to possess cocaine, MDMA and for possessing stolen and unlawfully obtained money. That included more than $400,000 in cash buried in his backyard. D’Aloisio had first come to the attention of police in 2017, when cops intercepted a suspicious parcel in a fake name and found 83.6g of cocaine and 27.9g of MDMA. It was worth at least $30,000. Police replaced the drugs with an inert substance and put them back into the Australia Post locker in Canning Vale, arresting D’Aloisio when he came to collect it. Officers then descended on his Kardinya home where they found $1150 in his bedside cabinet and a metal lock-box containing $41,900 under his bed. Various drug-dealing instruments including scales, clip-seal bags, tick lists and small quantities of cocaine were also found in the house, as well as text messages indicative of drug sales. It was not until almost two years later — while he was on bail — that D’Aloisio found police officers at his home again when he was placed under arrest on suspicion of another drug-related crime. This time the organised crime squad found $2100 in cash, a number of phones, cocaine, steroids, a cryovac machine, digital scales and a cutting agent. And, upon searching the backyard, nine stashes of money were found buried in the garden bed totalling $468,000. Prosecutor Michael Cvetkoski said a 2016 Mercedes-Benz AMG sports car was also found, registered under his 83-year-old grandmother’s name, who does not hold a driver’s licence. D’Aloisio’s lawyer Mark Trowell QC said he was instructed that his grandmother bought it for him on the understanding she would be repaid, admitting the “proceeds of crime would have facilitated that”. Mr Cvetkoski said photographs from D’Aloisio’s phone showed him “enjoying the fruits of his drug-dealing business” and living “well in excess of his $270 a week Centrelink payment”. He said this showed he was a “mid to high level” range drug dealer. “He was able to afford fine clothes,” he said. “He was able to afford the hiring of expensive accommodation at the Mounts Bay Waters Apartment Hotel and the Crown Metropol.” In 2019, D’Aloisio was convicted of supplying cocaine during a party for his birthday in a hotel room at The Westin Perth. “In 2017 ... Mr D’Aloisio while receiving $270 a week on Centrelink, was able to travel to the United States of America for a period of time,” Mr Cvetkoski said. “Whilst in the United States he was able to stay at the Bellagio Penthouse and attend events, namely the Coachella. He was able to afford watches and jewellery and he was able to purchase luxury vehicles outright.” Among those cars included a $30,000 BMW bought in 2016, a $75,000 Ford Mustang purchased the following year and, after the Mustang was seized under proceeds of crime, a Mercedes-Benz worth $73,000. That has also now been seized. Mr Cvetkoski, referring to letters to the court explaining D’Aloisio would find life behind bars difficult, said with “the greatest respect ... prison is not designed to be the Crown Towers or the Bellagio Penthouse”. He said drugs were a scourge on the community and D’Aloisio received “significant reward” for his criminal activity where he was “living it up”. “But to that reward there is a converse. There is an opposite,” he said. “Yes, he received significant rewards for his involvement in this drug dealing enterprise, but the converse is having his illegally acquired property removed from him and, very soon, his liberty taken away.” Mr Trowell said it could show a “consumer-based level of wealth” or “high life” but he had no assets and in those photographs, some of the jewellery was fake. He said the bulk of the cash found buried at his house was being kept safe for someone else. Judge Fiona Vernon said even accepting D’Aloisio’s claim he was caretaking most of the cash for someone else, he must have been at a “trusted level” in the drug hierarchy. Judge Vernon accepted D’Aloisio grew up in a “dysfunctional family”, with his father suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar and an acquired brain injury and passed away when he was 10. He was brought up by his grandparents because his mum had her own health issues, with drug use also normalised in his childhood. She said D’Aloisio was remorseful for his offending. D’Aloisio, who will become eligible for parole after serving four years, was declared a drug trafficker.