Paul Faavaoga, 37, did not get the home detention term he sought from the High Court.
The King Cobras member was originally sentenced to two and a-half years’ imprisonment when he appeared in the Dunedin District Court last year on 26 counts of receiving and two of money laundering.
Justice Melanie Harland, in a decision released to the Otago Daily Times this week, agreed the outcome was manifestly excessive — but only shaved three months off the penalty.
Because the result did not bring the sentence to less than two years’ imprisonment, a community-based outcome could not be considered.
‘‘The question of home detention does not arise. But, even if it did, given the nature of this offending, in my view, it would not have been an appropriate outcome,’’ Justice Harland said.
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 at a time and a police summary noted the requests for the delicacy were sometimes made several times a week.
In total, the Faavaoga received 1274 stolen crays — weighing more than tonne — with a value of $196,600.
At his direction, they were packed in wood wool and ice and he would pick them up from Nevard’s home.
He would pay her by cash or bank transfer, and then transport the crayfish to Dunedin Airport, where he would arrange for consignments to be airfreighted to associates around the country.
Typically, Faavaoga would receive payment for the stolen crayfish by way of bank transfer.
The court heard there were third-party transfers into his account totalling $15,406.
Over this period, the appellant paid $64,545.55 towards mortgage repayments on the Dunedin gang pad he owned and had also bought a vehicle for $10,345, which led to the money-laundering charges.
Justice Harland took no issue with the starting point taken by the sentencing judge in calculating the prison term but ruled it should not have been increased for the money laundering, which she described as ‘‘unsophisticated’’.
It was ‘‘a very marginal call’’, she said, but ruled the sentence was manifestly excessive.
Faavaoga is due to come before the Parole Board in six months.
Nevard was jailed for two years 11 months and becomes eligible for parole in November.
