A former AFL champion’s two-year criminal case ended in tears in a Melbourne courtroom as two custody officers led him from the courtroom.
Former St Kilda player Sam Fisher, 41, had the support of his parents and partner when he returned to the Victoria County Court on Thursday.
He cried as he was jailed for five years and four months on drug trafficking and possession charges.
Wearing a gray suit, Fisher said goodbye to his parents and gave his lawyer Dermot Dann KC one last hug before authorities took him away.
The court was told the 13-year veteran of the game was arrested in 2022 after a “suspicious package” in Western Australia was found to contain $129,000 in cash sent by Julien Morvan, 35, from Perth.
Sam Fisher (pictured, centre, outside court on Thursday) was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for drug trafficking and possession.
The 228-game St Kilda veteran struggled mightily after retiring in 2016, and found himself in some sort of money after the collapse of a property development he was counting on.
Police then intercepted a second large package addressed to Morvan containing 996 grams of methamphetamine and 82 grams of cocaine hidden inside a kitchen hood.
On Morvan’s phone, police found text messages with Fisher, who picked up the extractor hood from a Harvey Norman store and delivered it to Morvan’s father six days later.
A raid on Fisher’s home on May 18 of the same year uncovered quantities of drugs, including ketamine, LSD, methamphetamine, diazepam and steroids.
Fisher was scheduled to stand trial in early April, but pleaded guilty to all charges a week before the trial began after receiving a sentencing indication from Judge Mullaly, who found that he played a “messenger-type” role in the crime.
In his sentencing statement, Fisher’s lawyer Dermot Dann KC said his client’s life had “spinned out of control” after retiring from the AFL due to injury.
When police burst into Fisher’s home, they discovered the star was in possession of LSD, ketamine, valium and testosterone.
He told the court that Fisher’s recreational drug use had “intensified” amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a failed housing development.
“It must be recognized, and what makes this situation even more tragic, is that since then he has dedicated himself to his rehabilitation,” he said.
Judge Mullaly agreed, saying his life after sport had deteriorated rapidly and his mental health had deteriorated without his support network during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“Now you recognize that you were tremendously addicted… in those circumstances you began to move in circles of people involved in drugs,” he said.
“I accept that this was a truly appalling and out of place episode in your life.”
After spending 48 years on remand, Judge Mullaly said Fisher had taken significant steps to rehabilitate himself, including spending months in an inpatient program and speaking publicly about his battles.
“We are now a long way from where we were in mid-2022,” he said.
The former soccer star will be eligible for parole in three years
The court was told Fisher had faced a sentence of up to life in prison, but Morvan’s “merciful” sentence in Western Australia and Fisher’s “landlord” role in the plot meant his jail term would be less than the regularly imposed for crimes.
At an earlier hearing, Judge Mullaly said the two-time best and fairest winner and all-Australian should be recognized for the effort in turning his life around.
‘No matter how talented you are, drugs can take over and ruin your life; that is the message he has been imparting so that others can avoid his path,’ she stated.
Morvan was sentenced to six years in prison in March 2023 after pleading guilty to similar charges in Western Australia.
Fisher will be eligible for parole after three years.