A southeast Queensland man who masterminded a cross-border gun-running operation will spend at least six years behind bars.
Wayne John Yanko is the first person in Australia to face trial on charges of cross-border disposal and acquisition of firearms.
The 59-year-old orchestrated the operation with Perth man Trevor Manuel - who earlier pleaded guilty - and his brother Gregory Manuel who has evaded Australian authorities by moving to Russia.
The trio legally bought 109 handguns from Brisbane gun shops through West Australian company Wyworrie Holdings with the intention of selling them unlawfully.
They sourced the weapons, buying them for about $1000 each, from four gun shops over two weeks from February 27, 2017.
The men also allegedly bought weapons from a Sydney gun shop, but that was not the subject of the charges before the Brisbane District Court.
Authorities blocked the shipment of 44 weapons and recovered some, but 60 of those bought in Queensland remain unaccounted for and are believed to be circulating in the criminal underground.
The court heard Trevor Manuel obtained a firearm dealer licence under the company name Wyworrie to buy weapons during shopping expeditions.
Yanko, of Tamborine, would not have been eligible because of his criminal history that includes serious drug offending for which he served lengthy terms of imprisonment more than 15 years ago.
Instead Yanko urged Trevor Manuel to obtain the licence "which was the necessary heart of the plan", Judge Katherine McGinness said on Thursday.
She found Yanko was the "initial prime mover in the plan and "devised the scheme".
The trial was shown messages intercepted by authorities in which Yanko and Gregory Manuel tell Trevor Manuel to "get moving" in obtaining the dealer licence.
When they finally got the licence in February 2017, they were "ready to roll" with the trio preparing a "wishlist" of handguns.
"The best ones to get and easy to sell is the Glock - I think Australian made, even the knockoffs. Trust me mate, even the knockoffs are good," Yanko wrote.
"I've seen a few, and they're not bad. It all depends on the price ... the quantity, that is. I think get 50 or so together ... we will soon know what is what, and what is not."
Yanko's offending was more serious than Trevor Manuel, but not significantly so, Judge McGinness said in handing down his sentence.
"You each had something to contribute to the scheme once you instigated it," she told Yanko.
"You were all involved in different ways and your common intention was to all benefit financially."
Judge McGinness said Yanko almost certainly had networks for the supply of the guns, but the Manuel brothers "actively participated in the scheme and did play an integral role primarily for their own reward".
The unrecovered handguns were likely in the hands of criminals.
"They remain a lasting threat to public safety," Judge McGinness said.
The jury rejected Yanko's version that he was in a "subservient" role to the Manuel brothers, and simply obtaining stock for what he thought was a "legitimate" and lawful business.
The court heard Yanko had a disadvantaged childhood, but was hard-working and had considerable support from family, neighbours and friends.
He "dislocated his entire life", moving to the Gold Coast hinterland to avoid the escalation of "unfound animosity" with an outlaw motorcycle gang in Western Australia after being convicted of gun possession in 2013, defence barrister Andrew Hoare said.
Judge McGinness sentenced Yanko to eight-and-a-half years in prison, ordering him to serve a non-parole period of six years.
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