Two New Zealanders facing life imprisonment had principal roles in a bid to bring 500kg of cocaine into Australia, a crown prosecutor has told a New South Wales court.
But lawyers for "Sir" Thomas Graham Fry, aged 49, and Hamish Edmond Thompson, 48, argued that they each played a smaller part than a co-offender previously jailed for 13 years.
Fry and Thompson were among seven men found guilty last month by a Sydney District Court jury in relation to what at the time of their arrest was Australia's biggest cocaine bust.
They are to be sentenced on October 26.
Under New South Wales law, life imprisonment means jail for life, rather than for a maximum number of years.
During a seven-month trial, jurors were told the drugs had a street value of up to $A270 million.
Fry's barrister, Mitchell Paish, said an appropriate jail term would be 20 years with eligibility for parole.
Thompson's lawyer, Piet Baird, argued for a 22-year sentence for Thompson, with a non-parole period of 13 or 14 years.
- NZPA
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