Jemma Dann, 28, began selling grenade-shaped MDMA pills and cocaine out of car parks along with her fiancé Jonathon Towers, 33, after leaving the Australian Army
A female soldier left a life in the army to become a drug dealer who sold thousands of pounds worth of drugs in car parks.
Jemma Dann dealt MDMA and cocaine from outside garden centres to fund her lavish lifestyle, which included foreign holidays, luxury cars and an AUD $2 million (£1 million) flat along Bondi Beach. Late last year, the 28-year-old from south Sydney admitted her role in a scheme selling $600,000 (£300,000) worth of party drugs in the city, alongside her fiancé Jonathon Towers, 33, who headed a cross-border smuggling ring.
Dann, who was given a medical discharge from the Australian Army in 2019 after five years’ service due to a back injury, also shared her life online as a fitness influencer. After getting engaged, she travelled with Towers to Thailand in 2020, who was hoping to learn Muay Thai so he could lose weight.
He was injured in a motorbike accident while there and became addicted to painkillers, reports the MailOnline. It began a deep involvement in drugs that saw them begin selling them out of a car boot at a Bunnings store in Caringbah, Sydney soon after returning home. A court heard the drugs they sold included MDMA tablets shaped like grenades, which were so strong they left users “frothing”, a court heard. Dann and Towers used encrypted mobile apps such as Threema and Wickr to arrange deals, and transaction logs showed AUD $60,000 (£30,000) worth of MDMA being exchanged in single transaction.
Police began their investigation into the couple and four other men in November 2021, beginning a surveillance and monitoring operation that uncovered tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of illicit substances being imported to Australia, including 1.4kg of cocaine and more than 500g of MDMA. The couple were arrested a year later.
Dann was charged with multiple offences, but 14 related to drugs offences were withdrawn after she pleaded guilty to three charges. She admitted two counts of knowingly taking part in supplying a prohibited drug, and one count of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
At New South Wales, District Court Judge Andrew Scotting sentenced Dann to two years and three months of intensive correction, which will be served in the community and not behind bars. A nine-month non-parole period will expire later this year.
Towers was meanwhile handed a six years and six months’ jail sentence last year for drug supply, along with a non-parole period of four years. He could be eligible for release in late 2026 with time served. Dann has recently relocated NSW South Coast to live with her family after the court ordered her not to associate with Towers.
