Stephen Laurence Silvestro: Former bikie cops latest jail term, says gang membership his ‘biggest mistake’

A former senior bikie has told a Perth court that his years with outlaw gangs were “the biggest mistake of his life”, while copping his latest jail term. Stephen Laurence Silvestro was among a group of Finks who refused to cooperate with the Corruption and Crime Commission’s questions over a vicious brawl with the Coffin Cheaters at Kwinana Motorplex in 2010. The brawl left three Finks members with serious injuries — one lost three fingers, another was shot and a third required hospital treatment — while Silvestro copped two years in prison for contempt of court. Sentencing Silvestro on drugs charges on Wednesday, District Court of WA Judge Amanda Burrows noted that infamous conviction came after a long gap in offending. His previous jail term in 1994 had been harrowing, with Silvestro witnessing a “horrific” murder behind bars, which “stayed with him”, the judge said. He abstained from drugs for 26 years after that. But when his marriage broke down around 2020, he started using methamphetamine and soon developed a raging habit. Over the next three years, Silvestro racked up three pages of convictions, with his defence counsel Ben Jackson telling the court his life went completely off the rails. Silvestro, who joined the Mongols after the Finks, had now “completely removed himself” from gangs and described his membership as “the biggest mistake of his life”, the lawyer said. “He has been able to extricate himself,” Mr Jackson said. Now 56, respectably dressed and silver-haired, Silvestro was supported by family members in the public gallery as he learnt his fate over a 2023 drug bust. The court was told that police found him asleep in a donga in Caraban, north of Perth, with two clipseal bags containing 4.9 grams and 12.4g of meth nearby, along with scales, unused bags and $1150 in cash. It was accepted Silvestro planned to supply some of it to his partner and sell further quantities to fund his own use. He refused to answer police questions and was on bail at the time, for possessing 8.6g of meth and $11,165 in cash reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of crime. Judge John Prior handed him a 14-month term for that offence in August last year. And now Silvestro has another 14-month stint, with parole eligibility after serving half. “As you know, meth is a scourge on our State,” Judge Burrows said. “It caused your family heartache and you know how it impacts people who use it.” The judge remarked that it seemed every second person she sentenced was either addicted to drugs, offended to pay for their addiction or were violent because of it. Ironically, details of the other most notorious crime committed at Kwinana Motorplex - the shooting assassination of Rebels boss Nick Martin - is currently being heard in the same court building, but under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.