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WARWICK SMITH / Things
Lance Corporal Kasey Rey Tapara pleaded guilty to four counts related to the use, supply, and procurement of MDMA.
A soldier who pleaded guilty to drug charges during a court martial has avoided prison because of the effect it would have on his newborn baby.
During a court martial at Linton military camp near Palmerston North on Tuesday, Corporal Lance Kasey Rey Tapara, 31, admitted four charges related to the use, supply and acquisition of MDMA, a class drug B, from January 2017 to July. 2018.
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Tapara faced removal from service and 12 months in prison, but the military panel reduced his sentence by 50 percent due to delays in trial, remorse and an early guilty plea.
However, it was her 3-month-old baby that kept her from incarceration, Chief Judge Kevin Riordan said.
“The rights of children in general and of Maori tamariki must be taken into account.”
Tapara was fired from military service and received a reprimand.
“The court wants to make this very clear, if it weren’t for the mitigating factors … you would leave this court in a van to go to a women’s prison.”
Tapara, a supply technician for 5 Movements Company, supplied MDMA to three other service people.
On February 28, 2018, Tapara offered MDMA to two soldiers via text message in an attempt to obtain a cheaper deal.
“You and Rob want homegrown MDs? It’s 350-400 bux a gram … My supplier is getting me some and said it’s cheaper if I can get more people on board for a bulk supply,” the message said.
In another message, he offered to split his remaining MDMA with another soldier: “So I have half a green pill that I’m going to take on Friday … I want to go to the halves with me … Crush it and smell it lol.”
Tapara apologized for his actions.
She asked the sentencing panel to consider a punishment that would allow her to keep her baby.
“I just want to start the rest of my life with my baby,” she said.
“I just don’t want to be separated from my baby. I’ll do anything else, but don’t separate me from my baby. She is my world.
“I just want to apologize for my actions. What I did was stupid. If it weren’t for my friends who went ahead and went to the [commanding officer], I don’t know what would have happened to me. I would have continued, but my friends did the right thing.
“My life has completely changed because I did something stupid and it has been difficult. If I could turn back time, I would. “
The prosecutor, Flight Lieutenant Nina White, told the military that the crime was serious.
“Tapara was trusted as a leader. Despite this, he used and encouraged others to use drugs.
“It escalated over time and, as she has said, it only stopped because she was caught.”
White requested dismissal from service and four to six months in prison in the mothers and babies unit of a civil prison.
The Christchurch military prison would not be suitable.
Defense attorney David Pawson argued that Tapara should receive a reduction in rank and a dismissal from service, but not prison time.
“She was sorry. She was not a person who set out to be evil. She just lost her way and goes off the rails.
“You don’t have to send her to jail. Indeed, imprisonment will be unduly harsh. “
