By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

A reformed party girl who was jailed for her role in a multimillion cocaine syndicate has described the horror of having to shower in front of men while behind bars - and why she would either be a 'junkie or dead' if she hadn't been arrested. 

Danielle Tara Hogan, 30, from North Bondi, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine after her arrest two years earlier. 

She was sentenced to three years and 10 months, and spent 17 months in jail.

Upon her release, she sat down with former homicide detective Gary Jubelin to describe the nightmare of life in the largest processing cells in New South Wales. 

'I had to shower in front of men. I didn't receive phone calls to anyone. It is literally hell,' she told Mr Jubelin on his podcast I Catch Killers. 

After she was convicted of five drug-related offences, the then-24-year-old said she was 'thrown into a dry cell, strip-searched, all the rest of it'.

'And that was the pivotal moment for me. Everyone always says it's when you're arrested or when you spend a few days in jail, whatever,' she said.

'No, no, no. That was the moment that I was like, this s*** needs to change now.'

Danielle Tara Hogan (pictured) pleaded guilty in November 2021 to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine across Sydney. She spent 17 months in jail

Danielle Tara Hogan (pictured) pleaded guilty in November 2021 to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine across Sydney. She spent 17 months in jail

She claimed police officers said they were going to 'make an example' of her after her arrest

She claimed police officers said they were going to 'make an example' of her after her arrest

But the sentence turned out to be a wake-up call for Hogan, who now works at Confit, a gym for ex-prisoners which helps members adjust to life on the outside.

'To be honest, upon reflection recently... I feel like if I wasn't arrested, if I wasn't prosecuted, I would either be a junkie or I'd be dead,' she said.

'Jail was one of the best things that ever happened to me.' 

The young woman claimed that when she was taken into police custody, they told her: 'Sorry, we are going to make an example of you'. 

Hogan delivered 580 bags of cocaine to customers across Sydney as part of a multimillion dial-a-dealer operation. 

Police allege the group supplied about 200 bags of cocaine to customers each week for $300 each, with estimated earnings of $60,000 per week or $3.1million a year.

At one point she asked the syndicate to hire a friend who had a young child as a drug runner - a move Hogan admitted was 'selfish' during court proceedings. 

She called it quits when her partner found out about her involvement, sending a text message to her syndicate handlers which read: 'Hey I'm sorry but I'm done. I've taken my pay $450 from yesterday, left everything in the safe, password is 'c***'.'

But years later, she has said jail was one of the best things that ever happened to her

But years later, she has said jail was one of the best things that ever happened to her

She said that, if she was never prosecuted, should could have died

She said that, if she was never prosecuted, should could have died

Hogan now works at Confit, a gym for ex-prisoners helping members adjust to life outside jail

Hogan now works at Confit, a gym for ex-prisoners helping members adjust to life outside jail

Hogan, a former event planner, had been unaware her previous ongoing criminal activity was under police surveillance. 

On September 13, 2019, officers watched on as Hogan delivered a bag of cocaine to a man in the CBD on Castlereagh St. She was arrested on November 7 that year. 

The young woman opened up about how she became 'reckless and selfish' prior to joining the drug syndicate as a result of a sexual assault in her teens and subsequent court proceedings.

'I was 15 at this point. I didn't know how to handle it. In court, I wasn't answering questions in the way that was deemed necessary; I completely shut down,' she said.

'I was made out to be a liar, and that broke my heart. So unfortunately, the abusers weren't even convicted.

'That was just such a kick in the mouth to me at such a young age, because I thought the system that was supposed to protect me, the one place that I was so scared and so vulnerable being in, pretty much turned against me. 

'So in my mind, from there that just changed me as a person, that made me feel like, what's the point of being honest anymore?'

SydneyNew South Wales