Disgraced Olympian sentenced over failed drug plot
An Olympic silver medallist and his younger brother, who tried to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cocaine worth about $200 million into Australia, have been sentenced a second time.
Nathan Baggaley, 48, a former champion kayaker and his brother Dru Baggaley, 42, faced Brisbane supreme court on Monday after pleading guilty to attempting to import a commercial quantity of drugs.
Dru and another man were intercepted by the navy in July 2017, after he was found using a seven-metre inflatable boat to pick up 650 kilograms of cocaine from a ship near Australia's east coast.
The inflatable boat, which was launched from Brunswick Heads on the NSW north coast, had been bought by Nathan and was registered in his name.
The brothers were previously found guilty of attempting to import cocaine by a Brisbane Supreme Court jury in April 2021.
Nathan was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment and his brother 28 years, but they later won appeals against their convictions and were ordered to face the retrial that was supposed to start on October 28, but instead pleaded guilty to the same charge.
On Monday, Justice Declan Kelly sentenced Nathan to 13 years in jail and his brother 15 years.
With time already served, they are now eligible for parole.
During their sentencing hearing, Justice Kelly said there was insufficient evidence to prove Dru knew he was importing cocaine, after the court was told he thought he was collecting tobacco.
“Dru was reckless that there was a substantial quantity of a border-controlled drug but there is insufficient evidence that he knew the precise quantity,” Justice Kelly said.
He said that Nathan didn't initially know that it was an attempt to import a border-controlled drug until July 30 2018.
"From that point in time he was aware of the attempt to import a substantial quantity of a border-controlled drug but was reckless as to the identity of that drug," Justice Kelly said.
“It cannot be shown that Nathan knew the drug was cocaine or the precise amount of the drug.”
Kelly accepted a defence barrister's submission the facts were profoundly different” compared to their 2021 sentencing, but said that regardless, the importation size was a "“very relevant factor” in his sentencing.
Image: Erik S Lesser/EPA/ Shutterstock Editorial