A former sex worker turned 'energy healer' will spend at least eight months in jail after helping an international cocaine ring launder $400,000.
Delina Stevenson, 30, was sentenced by NSW District Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of recklessly dealing with money at the risk of it becoming an instrument of crime.
The court heard Stevenson was recruited while in Dubai in November 2023 for a working holiday.
She was introduced to Italian national Pasquale Zappia who instructed her on how to funnel money through her Bondi-based sex business, the Pleasure Paradigm.
The Sydney woman received almost $400,000 across 22 transactions between December 2023 and January 2024, of which she took a 15 per cent cut.
Those funds were then sent back to Zappia and his associates and were later used to buy 10kg of cocaine.
Court documents, seen by News.com.au, showed Stevenson was arrested in February 2025 following an investigation by the Australian Border Force.
Zappia and Melbourne pizza chef Salvatore Formica, who have both been linked to the Calabrian mafia, or 'Ndrangheta, were also identified in the investigation.
Stevenson was previously stopped by the ABF as she returned to Sydney in June 2024, during which officers downloaded a series of WhatsApp messages between her and Zappia.
Stevenson previously told the court she initially wasn't aware the money would be used for illegal purposes.
'I didn't know what I was doing was wrong until further down the track,' she said during her cross-examination.
She admitted it was a 'slip of judgement' to begin the transactions but she'd felt an 'obligation' to continue.
The court heard Stevenson had moved on from her life of 'drugs and partying' and was studying 'alternative healing'.
On her website, she offers 'Quantum Energy Healing' sessions for around $200.
Her lawyer argued his client should serve her sentence in the community as she would be 'particularly vulnerable' in jail because she's 'naive'.
'She's a young lady. She's attractive,' he told the court.
However, NSW District Court Judge Nicole Noman SC didn't buy that Stevenson was 'naive'.
'She's a woman who has been able to travel the world and perform business activities,' she said.
'She's strikes me as somebody that has great capacity ... if you're saying with and getting involved in the offence ... but I'm not sure about generally naive.'
Judge Noman ruled 'no sentence other than full-time custody' was appropriate for Stevenson's offences.
She was sentenced to two years and three months behind bars, to be released after eight months on a recognisance release order.
That order requires Stevenson to be on good behaviour for three years.
She was seen hugging relatives in the courthouse before being taken into custody.