A mixed martial arts fighter who was set to pocket $1000 after agreeing to provide his Melbourne address for a parcel containing drugs hidden within bottles of shampoo and hair gel has been jailed.
Jacob Heun, also known by his ring name "The Honey Bear", on Friday faced the Victorian County Court, where he was sentenced to a total of seven years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to both importing and trafficking drugs.
Judge Michael Tinney said the two separate charges, which involved agreeing to play a role in the importation of methamphetamine from France as well as the domestic trafficking of cocaine, placed him in the "deep end" of offending.
"This was no mere sideline or hobby - you were running a business," Judge Tinney said.
"It's clear as day you were in it up to your neck. You were conducting a business."
Heun was in September 2020 set to get paid $1000 for receiving a package that contained 800 grams of methamphetamine hidden in bottles of shampoo and hair gel sent from France.
After getting busted, the 34-year-old American told police he had already been paid $2000 for receiving two other packages.
He would get the cash after someone else picked up the drugs.
Heun told authorities he believed the parcels might have contained anabolic steroids, testosterone or diazepam.
But Judge Tinney said given he was communicating with the organisers on an encrypted messaging app, he showed a wilful blindness as to the real contents of the packages.
"You must have had some idea," he told Heun.
"You were certainly not some innocent dupe."
Judge Tinney recognised Heun was in financial trouble and clearly not "living the high life".
But he said the 34-year-old played an important role in the operation.
"You were the Australian agent and were absolutely critical to the importation," Judge Tinney said.
"You were being paid as a critical cog in the machine."
Huen, who once represented the University of Hawaii on a football scholarship, also sent packages of cocaine to his partner in Sydney.
"Jail is not part of my 2021 plan," he messaged the woman.
Judge Tinney said the 34-year-old once posted about 40 grams of cocaine in a single week, while also noting he had been trafficking the drug from May 2019 to September 2020.
The ex-MMA fighter must serve at least four years and nine months behind bars before being eligible for parole.
He will be deported back to America upon release, the court was told.
