A broke superyacht tour operator who oversaw a failed cocaine-smuggling operation that left a man dead will spend at least seven-and-a-half years behind bars.
James Blake Blee, 64, pleaded guilty to importing up to 70 kilograms of the border-controlled drug and smuggling two Brazilians into Australia in 2022.
He was sentenced in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday to 11 years and three months' imprisonment for the offences, with parole eligibility after seven years and six months.
Having been in custody since May 2022, Blee could be released in November 2029.
Judge Troy Anderson said Blee's criminal conduct was an aberration and whilst mostly motivated by financial reasons, it was not driven by greed.
"But rather as (defence barrister Andrew Boe) submitted, a sad, misconceived and desperate financial gamble driven by financial stress, which has devastated the lives of both himself and his family," he said.
Blee was recruited into the criminal enterprise in Bali in February 2022, later travelling to Dubai where negotiations for his services took place.
He smuggled Brazilians Bruno Borges Martins and Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva aboard his boat from Bali to Darwin in April to carry out the smuggling operation the following month.
He trained and equipped them to dive under the bulk carrier Areti Gr Majuro and retrieve more than 80 bricks of cocaine hidden in its hull in Newcastle harbour.
"The offender helped assemble the team and check the gear on the night of the retrieval operation, but he was not privy to the details of how it would be performed," Judge Anderson said.
"He told police that the Brazilians had organised the retrieval operation themselves with the syndicate."
The operation failed and Mr Martins, then 31, was found the following morning floating in the water surrounded by about half the cocaine.
Mr Da Silva was thought to have escaped with millions of dollars in cocaine but is now believed to be dead.
Blee was arrested at Cairns airport about to board a flight to Singapore on May 11, 2022 and was extradited to NSW.
"He led, co-ordinated and facilitated the retrieval of those drugs in order to recover them and to pass them on to people unknown," Judge Anderson said.
"He had particular skills as both a sailor and experience with diving.
"This combination of skills was clearly something which made him an attractive target to approach by the drug syndicate."
Blee told police he was the "linchpin" behind the local logistics and that two "kingpins in South America and Australia had masterminded the operation.
"He was involved by financial motive and was promised a very substantial amount, being $300,000, although I note that he was only paid $200,000," Judge Anderson said.
He also said Blee was a loving husband and father who had worked hard to raise and support his family and run his business, which collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Mr Boe candidly conceded that this was a case where the offender was in difficult financial circumstances, and he saw a commercial opportunity and took a calculated risk, which, as it turns out, failed spectacularly," he said.
Blee's son James Lake-Kusviandy Blee is on bail awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to aiding and abetting his father in the importation and dealing with more than $100,000 from the proceeds of crime.
