defendant -- claiming he may have been conned by a known dealer.

Richard Bernardo will be sentenced today after admitting possessing drug equipment and more than $100,000 worth of cannabis intended for supply.

But Mr. Bromby, a character witness called by defence lawyer Mark Pettingill, said Bernardo may have been tricked by an infamous West End drug dealer.

Bernardo's co-accused, room-mate Andrew Sheen, pleaded guilty to simple charges of possession and cultivation of cannabis.

Both men, from Mangrove Bay Road in Somerset, will be sentenced by Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller in Supreme Court this afternoon.

And Mr. Pettingill pleaded for leniency after both he and Crown Counsel Peter Eccles made constant references to the drug baron.

The unnamed dealer was also mentioned by five character witnesses for Bernardo.

They claimed the 34-year-old defendant was "naive'' and "trusting'' and may have unwittingly allowed the drug runner to operate from an unused outside storage room at their home.

Police found 2,090 grams of cannabis in a freezer in the storage room during a raid on September 19 last year.

They would have produced 4,180 $25 street samples in pay-type envelopes, worth a total of $104,500.

Officers also seized smaller samples of marijuana from the apartment -- and keys which opened the nearby storage room.

That room contained a small Whirlpool freezer, which hid the large store of cannabis.

Police also found 920 pay-type envelopes, 72 zip-lock plastic bags, a weighing scale, matches and Rizla cigarette papers.

Mr. Pettingill asked for Sheen, 33, to be given no more than a fine.

Drugs accused was `duped' And he suggested Bernardo, a carpenter and member of the Sandys Boat Club, should be jailed for only a year to 18 months.

Mr. Eccles, prosecuting, asked for a tougher sentence because Bernardo had "turned a blind eye'' to the unnamed dealer's activities.

Double Olympian Mr. Bromby described Bernardo as trustworthy and "very soft-spoken, considerate and very eager to help''.

He said Bernardo "probably didn't know'' the freezer's contents.

But Mr. Eccles, cross-examining, said: "If I were to tell you the freezer had a weighing scale sitting on top of it and a bucket full of pay-type envelopes nearby, would you make an inquiry?'' Mr. Bromby said: "I'm sure I would.'' Referring to the dealer, Mr. Eccles added: "Have you heard that he likes to make use of people as cut-out men, middle men, so that if it's found out, they get caught and he doesn't?'' Mr. Bromby added: "Yes, I believe that's true.'' But Mr. Pettingill, re-examining, asked: "Would you agree that Richard is a prime candidate to be duped?'' Mr. Bromby said: "No. I would not say that at all. He's a co-operative person who's always more than willing to oblige.'' Donald Hassell, owner of the nearby Somerset Country Squire pub, also said Bernardo and Sheen would not have known of the dealer's activities.

"They are softer men,'' he said. "This other individual is a stong-willed individual and in many cases the strong overcome the weak.

"Sometimes you can be in the middle of the forest but you can't see the trees.'' Mr. Pettingill, in closing submissions, said: "Richard Bernardo is a master carpenter of great use to the community -- he's not a drug dealer.

"Drug dealers make use of other people.'' Mr. Eccles added: "Mr. Bernardo was a dupe. Not altogether innocent but nonetheless a dupe -- someone used by a more sophisticated criminal.

"But those who do turn a blind eye do so at their own risk and peril. Those who are willing to blindly follow cannot complain too loudly when that leads over the edge of the precipice.

"My concern is that a defence of stupidity doesn't become a defence of choice. The Crown must always be concerned about the long-term impact of any decision by the court.'' Both Bernardo and Sheen were remanded on bail.