Dark web drug ring leader Cody Ronald Ward is one step closer to learning his fate, after submissions for his sentence hearing were heard on Friday, February 26.
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Ward, aged 26, appeared at the District Court in the Downing Centre via audio-visual link.
The court heard video games "desensitised" the 25-year-old to the real-world consequences of his actions importing and selling drugs online.
"He knows now that to think he was any different than a dirty drug peddler around the corner is a delusion," Ward's defence argued.
The defence argued Ward was not motivated to offend by money, although it was acknowledged that Ward bought "a modest Callala Bay home, a $70,000 Mercedes and a couple of old sports cars" with the proceeds of his drug business.
The court heard Ward was "starved of human connection" after childhood bullying and sought friends online and through drug use.
However, Judge Robyn Tupman gave the suggestion that Ward's social anxiety was to blame for his offending short shrift.
"Everyone has some form of psychiatric disorder or limitation if you look hard enough," she said.
Ward, of Callala Bay and two co-accused, Shanese Koullias, 24, of Callala Bay and Patricia Koullias, 20, of Quakers Hill were arrested and charged with a variety of offences related to drug supply in February 2019.
It is alleged Ward was in charge of the business, which ordered drugs over the dark web, which were then repackaged at a Callala Bay property, resold over the dark web, and sent to customers via Australia Post.
In Nowra Local Court on August 4 Ward pleaded guilty to three counts of importing a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs, two counts of importing a marketable quantity of border-controlled drugs and a number of supplying prohibited drug charges.
Ward's sentence judgement has been scheduled for April 23.
Shanese, 24, received an aggregate sentence of eight years' imprisonment, with a non parole period of five years, which commenced upon her arrest in February 2019.
Patricia, 22, received an aggregate sentence of three years, with a non-parole period of 22 months. She has already been released on parole.