A former hospitality worker turned car dealer sent to prison on drugs and weapons charges was caught after using his own name to sell stolen items on social media.
It’s a move Dane Erickson Goette now accepts was “somewhat reckless” as it created a clear trail that led police straight to his address.
Now, both Goette, and another person who was also dealing illicit drugs, have been sentenced for possessing cannabis for supply, possession of methamphetamine and other drugs.
Goette, 33, described by a judge at today’s sentencing in the Nelson District Court as the “go-to” person in the suburb where he lived, was also convicted on representative charges of dealing cannabis, methamphetamine and amphetamine, plus six charges of receiving property, three of which involved property worth over $1000.
A woman, who has interim name suppression, was also sentenced today and received six months’ home detention for drug charges she alone committed, plus allowing premises to be used to commit drug offences.
She was also sentenced on representative charges of dealing methamphetamine, amphetamine and cannabis.
Police said she was “obviously aware” of the drug-related activity taking place, which she was an active part, but did nothing to stop it.
In seeking a lesser penalty, the woman’s lawyer Emma Riddell said she was facing a further significant penalty of having assets seized after police filed proceedings against her.
The court heard Goette’s addiction was the driving force behind his offending, while the woman had been largely caught up in Goette’s lifestyle.
Submissions from his lawyer, Rob Harrison, indicated a preference for home detention so he might better address his addiction.
Judge Mark Callaghan said in sentencing Goette to three years in prison, that while he accepted he had taken steps to address his problems, it was clear he was still using drugs when he was arrested on a bail breach late last year and found to have in his system a mixture of “cough medicine and cannabis”.
“You’re considered to be a supplier to support your habit but it seems to be more than that,” Judge Callaghan said.
He said the firearms and ammunition also found in Goette’s possession indicated he was dealing drugs.
The charges on which he was sentenced included possession of a firearm and ammunition without a firearm licence.
Goette once offered to deliver a small amount of meth to a customer, or meet them at a Nelson primary school to complete the deal, the police summary of facts said.
On several occasions, Goette said he was also happy to accept property, usually tools, in exchange for methamphetamine.
In March, April and May 2025, police were investigating a number of “strikingly similar” burglaries and thefts from vehicles in the Richmond and Stoke areas.
They appeared to have been committed by the same person, police said.
On the morning of May 3 last year, a vehicle parked in a driveway in Stoke was broken into, and tools worth $5000 taken, including a nail gun, a case containing 10 Milwaukee brand batteries and a titanium hammer.
Soon after it was reported, police became aware that three of the batteries reported stolen were being offered for sale on Facebook marketplace by a seller with the username “Dane Goette”.
Harrison said he accepted he was “somewhat reckless” in that regard.
The man from whose vehicle the items were taken arranged to buy them from Goette, and later identified them as being his stolen batteries by the distinctive markings he had made on them.
Later that month, police searched Goette’s address and found the $600 titanium hammer in the garage, but nothing else was recovered.
However, police found other items of interest, including drugs and weapons and a 12-gauge single-barrelled shotgun that had five cartridges fitted to a sleeve attached to the butt of the shotgun.
They also found a second single-barrelled shotgun, 13 shotgun cartridges and 26 .410 calibre cartridges.
During the search, police also found almost 600g of dried cannabis in several plastic bags and a number of plastic containers.
More cannabis stalks and leaf material were found throughout the house, with scales and empty plastic snap-lock bags.
Various items of drug paraphernalia and 10.6g of psilocybin, a Class A drug known as magic mushrooms, were found in a desk in the main living area of the house.
A further 153g of wet psilocybin was found in a plastic snap-lock bag in the kitchen.
As the property search continued, police found tools and other items that fitted the description of items reported stolen in the spate of burglaries and thefts from vehicles, and which led to the receiving charges against Goette.
The items included cameras and lenses worth thousands of dollars, reported stolen from vehicles parked in driveways in Richmond.
One of the cameras found at Goette’s address included images he had taken.
Police then found a plastic bin containing work tools and stock taken from a trades van parked on Richmond’s main street, including internet routers, hard drives, power boards, converters, electronic adaptors, cables and a socket set.
A vehicle belonging to an apprentice builder, which, parked in a Richmond driveway, was cleaned out of work tools and equipment, some of which were found at Goette’s address.
Throughout this time, Goette was offering to sell cannabis to various people and organise delivery drops via Facebook Messenger.
The drug dealing was uncovered when Goette’s cell phone was seized during the police inquiry, but it was not clear how much cannabis was sold, police said.
Twice in early April last year Goette messaged a person on their cell phone and offered to supply a “q” (a quarter ounce/7g) of methamphetamine, then arranged to meet on the street corner of an upmarket, central Nelson neighbourhood.
Police said Goette was also in regular contact with a person using a different cell phone number, to whom he offered to sell meth on nine separate occasions.
The search of a storage unit rented by Goette in Richmond last May uncovered multiple rounds of different gauge ammunition.
He later claimed responsibility for the drugs and shotguns found at the address, and admitted receiving the stolen property and exchanging some of it for drugs but claimed he never suspected it was stolen property.
The woman was also selling cannabis via Facebook, with payments made by bank transfer to her account, usually followed up by a screenshot from the customer as proof of payment, police said.
Sometimes she arranged “drops” by delivering to a third party and leaving it in their letterbox and other times she delivered to addresses or met up with the customer in their vehicle.
The woman has appealed an earlier decision declining her application for permanent name suppression.
The hearing in the High Court at Nelson is scheduled for next month.
