Paul Faavaoga, 37, a member of the King Cobras, has spent more than two months behind bars after he was jailed for two and a-half years on numerous receiving charges and a count of money laundering.
Before the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, his counsel, Sarah Saunderson-Warner, argued the penalty was excessive and her client should have got less than two years, leaving a potential sentence of home detention available.
Between April and September, 2024, Faavaoga would place "orders" with 50-year-old Nicola Nevard, a long-serving staff member at Fiordland Lobster Company who worked at the Sawyers Bay packing factory.
The requests were usually for between 60 and 80 live crayfish and sometimes deliveries would be made several times a week.
At Faavaoga’s direction, the stolen crays were packed in wood wool and ice and he would pick them up from Nevard’s home.
The court at sentencing heard he would fly shipments of the expensive delicacy to contacts outside Dunedin.
At sentencing, Judge Diedre Orchard acknowledged Faavaoga’s gang ties but she said the rort had no confirmed wider ties to organised crime.
The proceeds contributed to the mortgage on Faavaoga’s gang pad, and Nevard also transferred money into separate accounts to pay her mortgage.
Ms Saunderson-Warner said 80% of the stolen crayfish went to her client, while Nevard distributed the remainder to other contacts.
Although the woman was the insider who had betrayed her employer, Crown prosecutor Zoe Kellam stressed Faavaoga played an "integral" role.
The rationale used by the judge in reaching her sentence could not be criticised, she argued.
But Ms Saunderon-Warner said the defendant was not given sufficient credit for factors that weighed in his favour.
While the sentencing judge shaved 30% off her starting point, counsel said more should have been subtracted to acknowledge Faavaoga’s good character.
His only previous convictions came for driving matters which occurred when he was a teenager.
Ms Saunderson-Warner said the judge also failed to factor in the impact of Faavaoga’s incarceration on his two young children.
While not their primary caregiver, she said the man had a "significant bond" with the children.
But Ms Kellam stressed there was no significant evidence before the court to verify that.
Nevard, who was sentenced alongside Faavaoga in November, was jailed for two years 11 months.
Justice Melanie Harland reserved her decision and expected to release her judgement in the next fortnight.
