A Bondi “energy healer” will spend at least eight months behind bars after being recruited during a Dubai holiday to become a cocaine money launderer.
Former sex worker Delina Stevenson, 30, was sentenced in the 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 how Stevenson was in Dubai in November 2023 for sex work reasons and was “partying with friends” when she was introduced to Italian national Pasquale Zappia.
Zappia recruited Ms Stevenson to funnel money through her Bondi sex work business, the Pleasure Paradigm.
Stevenson received almost $400,000 through 22 different transactions across December 2023 and January 2024, which she sent back to the men on the provision that she kept a 15 percent cut.
The money was eventually used to purchase 10 kilograms of cocaine.
Court documents obtained by news.com.au reveal how Stevenson was arrested in February 2025 by the Australian Border Force as part of an investigation into Zappia and Melbourne pizza chef Salvatore Formica. Mr Formica has previously been linked to the Calabrian mafia.
The arrest came after Stevenson was stopped by the ABF after returning to Sydney in June 2024, in which police downloaded a series of WhatsApp messages between Stevenson and Zappia.
During Thursday’s sentencing, the court heard that since the incident, Stevenson had moved away from “drugs and partying” and had begun studying “alternative healing.”
Her website advertises “Quantum Energy Healing” sessions for around $200.
During her cross-examination, Stevenson said she was unaware the money would be used for illegal purposes when she agreed to the deal.
“I didn’t know what I was doing was wrong until further down the track,” she told the court.
Stevenson said she then felt “obligation” to continue with the transactions.
“It was a slip of judgment in the initiation,” Stevenson told the court.
Arguing for a term on imprisonment served in the community, Stevenson’s lawyer said his client would be “particularly vulnerable” in jail as she was “naive.”
“She’s a young lady. She’s attractive,” he told the court.
“She’s clearly somebody that doesn’t have a great understanding of the world or the criminal justice process.”
NSW District Court Judge Nicole Noman SC questioned the notion that Stevenson was “naive.”
“She’s a woman who has been able to travel the world and perform business activities,” Judge Noman 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.”
Stevenson’s lawyer said his client was “preyed upon” by people involved in the drug trade.
Judge Noman said she had “considered all other available sentences” and that she was satisfied “no sentence other than full-time custody” was appropriate.
Stevenson was sentenced to two years and three months’ jail, from which she will be released after eight months on a recognizance release order.
The order requires her to be of good behavior for three years.
In court, Stevenson hugged her family members before she was taken into custody.
