Sixty-year-old John Frances Waterworth has been convicted of conspiring to deal in the class B drug ecstasy as part of a network that had connections to Auckland's celebrity drugs ring.
Waterworth himself was the connection with the Auckland operation. The Crown says he was brought aboard by a Christchurch dealer because of his knowledge of sourcing ecstasy.
Waterworth was prosecuted after he was snared by police in Operation Aqua in Auckland in 2005 for the supply of cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy.
He had an address in the CityLife apartment block in Queen St where personalities and prominent businesspeople visited.
News reports at the time named some of the visitors as league star-turned TV personality Brent Todd, former All Blacks Marc Ellis and Josh Kronfeld, and financial high-flyers. Todd and Ellis were convicted of drug offences; Kronfeld's name came up at Waterworth's depositions hearing but he was not charged with any offence.
Now Waterworth is again in custody for his part in the Christchurch drug ring that the police investigated with their Operation Scratch inquiry which ended with raids and arrests in June 2009. He is due to be sentenced on March 22.
Supporters reacted with relief in court when the jury announced it had found Shannon Richard Dillon, 27, a technician, and Michael Robert David, 37, a painter, not guilty of the conspiracy charge and they were discharged by Judge Colin Doherty.
The three men had admitted a drugs conspiracy but had said they were only supplying class C drugs -- party pills or BZP.
Judge Doherty said today the identity of the drugs involved was the sole issue in the case.
The Crown relied on circumstantial evidence to prove that ecstasy was involved and was being discussed in coded fashion in intercepted conversations that were played to the jury.
It said that the description of the pills, the code names, and the price range indicated that it was ecstasy rather than party pills, and Waterworth had a test kit that was primarily used for ecstasy.
The defence said that the dealer involved was dealing in party pills and the descriptions of the pills could equally apply to BZP or ecstasy.
David gave evidence that he had no arrangement with anyone but the dealer to sell class C pills for him, and had been inadvertently caught up in the police operation.
The jury retired to consider its verdicts about 10.30am when Judge Doherty finished his summing up, and returned to court at 4.50pm after sending out a request to rehear four of the recorded conversations.
The jury later went to dinner together, accompanied by court staff, and eventually returned its verdicts at 8.35pm -- about 10 hours after deliberations began.
