Aaron Lotti: Man fined for possessing cocaine found during same search that uncovered almost 10g of MDMA

A 23-year-old Bunbury man who avoided jail for a number of drug possession offences has been fined for having a small quantity of cocaine that was found during the same search that uncovered almost 10g of MDMA. Aaron Luke Lotti appeared in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court on Thursday where he was fined $600 after he was previously convicted of possessing cocaine. The court was told police conducted a search on Lotti’s Australind home during the morning of March 26, 2021, where both he and co-offender Finian Theodore Demou were present. During the search, police located and seized a small clip-seal bag, which contained 1g of cocaine, from Lotti’s bedroom. During the search, police uncovered a backpack in Demou’s bedroom containing clip-seal bags that held capsules or MDMA in powder form, totalling 9.96g. It was understood the MDMA was jointly possessed by Lotti and Demou, who were placed on a 12-month pre-sentence order by the Bunbury District Court in September last year, allowing them to take part in supervision and relevant programs to rehabilitate themselves from drug use. In submissions, the court was told Lotti had been sentenced to a 10-month prison term that was suspended for 12 months in April after it was deemed he performed well on the pre-sentence order. After handing down the fine, Magistrate Joanne Andretich told Lotti she was encouraged by the steps he had taken to distance himself from drug use and drug dealing. “There is a better life to live rather than engaging with drugs,” she said.