The Department of Corrections has been unable to determine if he is a member of the Mongrel Mob, so the Crown withdrew a charge of participating in an organised criminal group and theft.
However, in sending him to jail, Justice Edwin Wylie said it was clear there was a link as his co-accused were members and whichever group he was a part of, King was high up in it.
The charges arose after Waikato police carried out Operation Gulfport, which arrested several people across the country to combat the scourge on drugs, particularly P.
Police started investigating people involved in the supply of P within the Waikato region in July 2020.
King's involvement was uncovered through intercepted communications, which showed he received wholesale quantities of P from dealers and then on-sold it to retail customers, from between less than one gram or up to an ounce or 28g.
Intercepted communications between July 8 and September 30, showed he supplied P at least 36 times.
However, the quantities were only able to determined on 21 occasions, totalling at least 19.75g.
During the same period he offered to supply various people and quantities, from less 1g to up to 28g on 18 occasions. That totalled 194g for the 15 occasions that could be confirmed.
Searching his Hamilton property, which he shared with his children and grandchildren, on August 31, police found a backpack with a large quantify of resealable plastic bags, scales, bags of P and $10,000.
Police also found another 265.63g of P, along with a modified pistol and modified ammunition.
A major escalation in offending
Judge Wylie said King had an "extensive and varied criminal history" dating back to 1994, including 32 convictions for violence, non-compliance, aggravated burglary, driving and theft.
His pre-sentence report described his latest offending as a "major escalation".
He was regarded as a "very high risk" of harm to others and reoffending given his willingness to use violence and association with members of the Mongrel Mob.
A S27 cultural report found various factors that served to diminish his culpability.
That included his upbringing, which was centred around poverty and deprivation. King explained how he had scavenge for food out of rubbish bins at school.
"You had to relocate several times in childhood. As a result you had to change schools, this resulted in disruption to your education which again, may well have limited your access to other choices in your life."
Being exposed and using cannabis at such a young age, 13, could affect adolescent brain development and ultimately manifest in a higher frequency of anti social criminal behaviour.
His drug use intensified by the age of 20 when he started using P and later experienced the significant trauma of losing his mother and then a young child.
"It appears that trauma and loss has not been addressed and may have contributed to your use of substances," Judge Wylie noted.
King's addictions were initially funded by his full-time job, which he later lost. P then became his full-time occupation. He was consuming more than 3g at the time of his offending.
Tuck sought an adjournment of his client's sentencing so King could enter a residential rehabilitation facility where he had a confirmed placement.
But the Crown opposed that and it was denied by the judge as there was no confirmation of what plan he would undertake if he did take part in the scheme.
Sending King to jail, Judge Wylie took a starting point of eight years and six months, as outlined in his sentence indication from September last year.
He then took into account his guilty, remorse, rehabilitative steps and aspects of his cultural report before coming to his end sentence.
"I hope that you will be able to access the further rehabilitation you require. I wish you good luck with your endeavours in that regard."
