Cricketing great Stuart MacGill guilty of facilitating cocaine deal

Cricketing great Stuart MacGill has been found guilty of facilitating a cocaine deal between his brother-in-law and a street-level drug dealer after a jury rejected his claim that he simply introduced the pair.

Following an eight-day trial in the NSW District Court, the jury on Thursday returned a guilty verdict after a day and a half of deliberations.

MacGill, 54, was found not guilty of taking part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, however he was found guilty of the lesser charge of taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.

He showed little emotion as the jury of eight women and four men handed down their verdict and he did not speak as he exited the Downing Centre Court complex in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

He will face sentence proceedings later this year and faces the prospect of being jailed.

The court heard that according to the Crown case, MacGill helped set up and was present at a meeting between his partner’s brother, Marino Sotiropoulos, and a street-level drug dealer, who can only be known as Person A, underneath his Neutral Bay restaurant in April 2021.

MacGill had pleaded not guilty to one count of taking part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, with the court hearing that he claimed he simply introduced the two men and played no part in a later drug deal.

The Crown alleged during the trial that Person A – who was MacGill’s regular cocaine dealer – and Mr Sotiropoulos – came to an agreement to exchange $330,000 for 1kg of cocaine.

During the trial, MacGill told the court he regularly purchased half a gram of cocaine for $200 from Person A.

And Crown prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman told the court that in April 2021, MacGill complained to Person A about the quality of his product while telling him that Mr Sotiropoulos could “get good gear”.

Ms Steedman told the court that MacGill had acted as a go-between between the pair before setting up a meeting underneath Aristotle’s restaurant – which MacGill ran with his partner Maria O’Meagher – on April 8, 2021.

She told the court that MacGill helped settle the price, quantity and the day of the meeting.

She argued to the jury it would have been “remarkable” for a drug deal to take place within a short time of the first meeting between Person A and Mr Sotiropoulos without any prior negotiation.

She told the court for the transaction to occur, Person A would have needed a large sum of money, and Mr Sotiropoulos would have needed access to a brick of cocaine.

“This could just not have been possible,” Ms Steedman said, adding such a supply could not occur “out of thin air”.

According to the Crown case, MacGill stood metres away during the meeting.

It was not alleged that MacGill was present when the actual exchange later took place in a park in Ashfield.

During his evidence, MacGill told the court that he thought Mr Sotiropoulos was a “d***head” who would sit at the bar of his restaurant and talk about drugs and “how tough he was and how hooked up he was”.

MacGill said that despite Mr Sotiropoulos’ claims, he “never saw him with drugs and he never had any money.”

He said he would complain to Person A about Mr Sotiropoulos.

He further told the jury that he offered to introduce Mr Sotiropoulos to Person A to “palm off” his brother-in-law so the drug dealer could “take him off my hands”.

MacGill said he was trying to “share the pain”.

During his evidence to the court, he denied introducing the pair for the purposes of a large-scale drug deal.

He said that he “introduced them” but “didn’t facilitate any drug supply”.

“I was not aware of any drug supply,” MacGill told the jury.

He said he was only briefly present to introduce them, saying “Marino, Person A. Person A, Marino”, before leaving to get to work upstairs.

Under cross-examination, MacGill was asked about his motivation for introducing the two men.

He was asked by Ms Steedman what he thought they had in common.

“Drugs. Full stop,” MacGill replied.

However, the jury rejected his version of events as he was found guilty.

The court heard that it was alleged that Person A and Mr Sotiropoulos took part in two further drug deals.

During the trial, the court heard it was alleged Person A later agreed to purchase 2kg of cocaine for $660,000.

However, Person A fled with the drugs after giving the group a block of dummy money consisting of a vacuum-sealed pack of A4 paper with $50 notes on the outside.

That led to MacGill allegedly being kidnapped from outside his Cremorne home.

In his statement to police, which was read to the court, MacGill said that he was taken to an abandoned house in Bringelly on Sydney’s southwestern outskirts.

MacGill told police he was slapped, made to strip naked, threatened with bolt cutters and at one point thought he was going to be killed.

MacGill will now face sentencing proceedings in May.