HE used an encrypted phone to liaise with and take orders from shadowy organised crime figures involved in an international drug importation plot, recruited one friend to sail a cocaine-packed catamaran from Tahiti to Toronto and got another mate to take the risk of removing the bricks from the hull while the yacht was moored on Lake Macquarie.
And he stood to make as much as $3 million.
But was the man at the centre of a 700 kilogram importation plot foiled by Australian Federal Police in 2017 a "middle-manager" in the syndicate, a "low-end facilitator with no authority", the "Australian principle organiser" or something else.
The man, who cannot be identified because he gave evidence against the Newcastle man who sailed the cocaine from Tahiti to Toronto, was jailed last year for a maximum of 19 years and six months, with a non-parole period of 12 years and six months, a sentence massively discounted due to his cooperation and guilty plea.
The man has lodged an appeal against the severity of the jail term, labelling it "manifestly excessive", and the exact characterisation of the role he served in the importation syndicate came sharply into focus during a hearing in the Court of Criminal Appeal on Friday.
Defence barrister Frank Coyne said the man's role did not amount to "approaching a middle-manager" in the syndicate and was better characterised as a "low-end, middle facilitator with no authority or ability to take actions and only passing on directions".
"It is very important to note what he didn't do," Mr Coyne said. "He didn't plan this importation, he didn't fund it, he did not source the drugs and he did not secrete them on the boat."
Mr Coyne said the man's age and the length of the sentence meant his life would "effectively be over by the time he was released", a submission rejected by the three-judge bench who pointed out he had made a conscious decision at his advanced age to become involved in organised crime.
The CCA reserved its judgement.
After a five-week trial in Newcastle District Court, well-known sailor Craig Lembke was found guilty of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. He had admitted to sailing the yacht from Tahiti to Lake Macquarie, but denied knowing about the illicit cargo on board.
He was jailed for a maximum of nine years, with a non-parole period of six years in April, but the Commonwealth DPP have since filed an inadequacy appeal against his sentence.
The appeal will be heard in the Court of Criminal Appeal in October.
The other syndicate member who was arrested on board the catamaran while trying to cut through the hull to access the cocaine was jailed for a maximum of 13 years with a non-parole period of 8 years.
The man, who also gave evidence against Lembke during his trial, has not filed a notice of intention to appeal.
