A topless waitress and her gym junkie boyfriend have pleaded guilty to masterminding a steroid empire.
Nateesha Barlin, 23, and her boyfriend Dylan Shaw, 24, ran a ‘criminal enterprise’ from their rented granny flat on the New South Wales Central Coast – before it all came crashing down after a two-year covert sting operation.
Barlin boasted that she ‘pretty much supplied the whole Central Coast’, the Central Coast Gosford Express Advocate reported.
A topless waitress and her gym junkie boyfriend have pleaded guilty to masterminding a steroid empire
Nateesha Barlin, 23, and her boyfriend Dylan Shaw, 24, ran a ‘criminal enterprise’ from their rented granny flat on the New South Wales Central Coast
That was before they were raided by the Australian Border Force in November 2016.
They imported and distributed steroids, testosterone and human growth hormones, and were caught out when ABF officers intercepted 13,672 tablets, 11.2 litres of testosterone, 600ml of anabolic steroid, and 20 vials and 55 ampoules of human growth hormone.
During the raid, ABF officers found 100g of cannabis, 300 vials believed to contain human growth hormone and 12 litres of performance and image enhancing drugs.
Barlin pleaded guilty to one count each of importing testosterone and the deemed supply of anabolic steroids, while Shaw pleaded guilty to three charges including importing human growth hormone, anabolic steroids and the deemed supply of steroids.
During a sentencing hearing at Gosford District Court on Thursday, the court heard the pair expected to be ‘getting lumps of money at a time’, between $5,000 and $10,000.
Shaw told Barlin ‘it will all be worth it’ in a text message tendered as part of an agreed set of facts.
The agreed facts also state the couple imported the growth hormone and steroids from China and the Philippines, and they were shipped to their granny flat or their parents’ houses.
Barlin boasted that she ‘pretty much supplied the whole Central Coast’
The couple sold the drugs over Facebook, including through a group called ‘Swole Ninja Community’
During the ABF raid, Shaw snapped his mobile phone, but it was to no avail. Police had already downloaded it three months earlier when the couple returned from a holiday to Phuket and were stopped at Customs.
The couple sold the drugs over Facebook, including through a group called ‘Swole Ninja Community’.
In court, the prosecutor said the couple were driven by financial gain.
However, Shaw’s lawyer argued the drugs were for personal use, and said posting to the group on Facebook was not advertising.
Barlin’s solicitor said she had been subjected to ridicule since details of the case went public, and had lost her job.
During the ABF raid Shaw snapped his mobile phone, but it was to no avail. Police had already downloaded it three months earlier
Her lawyer said Barlin had a difficult childhood and that she was bullied for being an ‘ugly duckling’.
‘What is particularly relevant in this particular offence is her perception of herself and the bullying she felt as a result of how she looked,’ he said.
Barlin’s solicitor said she fell into ‘gym culture’ which introduced her to steroids.
The couple will be sentenced on June 26.
Barlin’s solicitor said she fell into ‘gym culture’ which introduced her to steroids