Drug dealer avoids jail after judge praises him for good business model for selling meth

An Australian drug dealer has avoided jail after a judge praised him for his "good business model" while selling methamphetamine.

Brodie Satterley, 20, was convicted of running a "low-level" meth trafficking business in Maroochydore, Queensland. Appearing at Brisbane Supreme Court, Satterley was handed a three-year sentence with immediate parole and urged to use the initiative he showed while dealing drugs for a more legitimate career.

The court heard Satterley had a system while selling meth which included charging interest on debts, giving price guides and discounts and offering refunds to customers who complained about the product. Satterley also sought custom feedback and held business strategy meetings, reported the Sunshine Coast Daily.

He was arrested in June 2015 after police found him in a parked car under the influence. A search of the vehicle recovered drugs, as well as his mobile phone in which he conducted his drug dealings.

Justice Ann Lyons, a member of the Supreme Court of Queensland, said she was impressed by Satterley's business sense and urged him to turn his life around. She said she took other influences into account, such as his lack of crime or drug use in the two years since his arrest and his upbringing by drug and alcohol afflicted parents, when deciding not to send him to jail.

Lyons said: "It obviously wasn't the best business, but it's a good business model."

"You obviously could do very well in business because you clearly are quite intelligent. Can I say that if you actually did some more study you could really make something of yourself? So please don't come back to court again."

After waking free from court, Satterley posted a Facebook status update reading: "3 years parole, couldn't of [sic] gone any better."