Former St Kilda star Sam Fisher had lost his sense of identity after retiring from AFL and was struggling with money when his drug usage spiralled out of control.
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He felt displaced as he battled to find employment and his plans to secure an income through a property development collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was in this context that Fisher became involved in a plot to smuggle cocaine and methamphetamine between Victoria and Western Australia, his barrister Dermott Dann told a Melbourne court on Monday.
Fisher sat in the dock at the back of the County Court ahead of a prison sentence after he admitted six drug offences.
The 41-year-old is facing more than five years in jail after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, cocaine and 1,4-Butanediol, and three counts of drug possession.
Fisher was arrested by police in May 2022 for trafficking 996g of meth and 82g of cocaine from Melbourne to Western Australia, prosecutor Melissa Mahady told the court.
She said Fisher had picked up a new rangehood from Harvey Norman in Moorabbin and then delivered it to a Melbourne patisserie owned by his co-accused Julien Morvan's father, with the drugs inside.
The drugs were seized by WA police on April 20, 2022, along with a second parcel bound for Melbourne with $129,000 inside.
When police searched Fisher's home they found he was in possession of LSD, ketamine, valium and testosterone.
Fisher retired from the AFL at the age of 34, after playing 228 games for the Saints, which was when his life began to spiral out of control.
"What was going on at the time of this offending ... a sense of displacement, loss of identity, employment difficulties, overriding stress," Mr Dann said.
Fisher had hoped to make an income from a property development, but that collapsed during the pandemic, the court was told previously.
Mr Dann said Fisher began using drugs to distract himself from the stress he was facing.
"He got into a bad situation with a very bad drug habit and poor mental health, his offending should be seen in that troubling context," he said.
"He would say his involvement with drugs has ruined his live."
More than a dozen character references were submitted to the court in support of Fisher, including from his former club and the AFL Players Association.
Mr Dann said Fisher had devoted the past two years of his life to rehabilitating from his drug problem and understood he faced prison for the very serious offending.
"He knows he has to pay that price but in the sentence that should be imposed, we say rehabilitation should form a very significant sentencing objective," he said.
Fisher's parents, who supported him in court on Monday and have funded his legal costs, said he "very much regrets his actions".
"He's the type of person who could use these events and public persona to have a very positive impact upon society," they wrote, in a letter to the court.
Judge Gerard Mullaly acknowledged that Fisher was genuinely remorseful.
"He's a shattered man, deeply sorry for what he did but also the predicament he's in," he said.
Fisher's bail was extended and he will return to the court for his sentence on May 16.
Australian Associated Press
