When former Test star Stuart MacGill in April 2021 made his way into an underground car park beneath the Sydney north shore restaurant he ran with his partner, he had little idea it would change the course of his life and tarnish his legacy.
MacGill, 54, considered one of Australia’s great modern spinners, is staring down the barrel of a possible jail term after he was this week found guilty of facilitating a cocaine deal in the underground car park of his Neutral Bay restaurant, Aristotle’s.
On Thursday, MacGill stood in the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney where a jury found him guilty of one count of taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.
He was acquitted of the more serious charge of taking part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
During the trial, the Crown alleged he helped facilitate a drug deal between his brother-in-law Marino Sotiropoulos and a drug dealer, who can only be known as Person A, in which $330,000 was exchanged for one kilo of cocaine.
These are the key pieces of evidence heard during the trial.
MacGill did not deny that he introduced Person A and Mr Sotiropoulos.
He described his partner’s brother as a “d***head” who would incessantly talk about drugs.
But MacGill told the court he had never seen his brother-in-law with drugs or money.
He described Mr Sotiropoulos as a “wannabe” gangster who would “waffle” about drugs as if he were “regurgitating TV shows”.
Also, MacGill admitted he was a regular recreational cocaine user and would several times a week purchase half a gram from Person A for $200.
And as MacGill put it, he wanted to “palm off” his brother in law to someone else and offered to introduce Mr Sotiropoulos to his dealer.
“You know I can honestly tell you I have no idea what I expected, I was just trying to share the pain,” Mr Magill said.
And Crown prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman pressed MacGill on his motivation for the introduction.
According to the Crown case, MacGill had in the preceding weeks complained to Person about the quality of his drugs and suggested that his brother-in-law could “get good gear”.
Ms Steedman argued to the jury that if Mr MacGill had simply wanted to introduce the pair, he could have just passed Person A’s phone number onto Mr Sotiropoulos.
The court heard during the trial that MacGill had passed on Person A’s number to several of his friends.
During his cross examination, MacGill was pressed on his motivation for the introduction.
Ms Steedman: “What was similar about Marino’s interest that aligned with Person A in your mind?”
MacGill: “Drugs.”
Steedman: “What about them?”
MacGill: “Drugs. Full stop.”
Steedman: “That they were interested in talking about drugs?”
MacGill: “Drugs. Full stop.”
Steedman: “You’re just making up a reason why you introduced Marino to Person A.”
Mr MacGill: “I’m not actually.”
MacGill’s defence attacked that line of reasoning – his barrister Thos Hodgson questioned why he would facilitate a large drug deal on behalf of his brother-in-law given he disliked him so intensely.
“It is inconceivable that Mr MacGill would have wanted Marino to benefit from any sort of drug deal that he may be doing with Person A,” Mr Hodgson argued.
MacGill did not dispute that he was present in the underground car park.
He was picked up at his Cremorne apartment by Person A, who drove him the 500m or so to Aristotle’s, the Greek restaurant he ran with his partner, Maria O’Meagher.
On MacGill’s version of events, he was only there for a few moments, saying “Marino, Person A. Person A, Marino” before walking upstairs.
According to the Crown case, he stood several metres behind the two men as they negotiated the drug deal.
The court was told that a short time later Mr Sotiropoulos and Person A drove to Ashfield, where the Crown alleges the exchange took place.
And Ms Steedman argued to the jury that the only way for that to have occurred – given Mr Sotiropoulos and Person A had only met shortly beforehand – is if Mr MacGill had acted as a go-between in the preceding days.
Ms Steedman said: “Without (Mr MacGill), there is no drug deal.”
And the Crown argued that he had helped the men settle on a price, quantity and the manner in which the drugs would be packed.
“This could just not have been possible, in my submission to you, without discussions having taken place beforehand,” Ms Steedman said.
“This kind of serious dealing and supply does not just happen with no notice and out of thin air.
“What makes sense is the agreement was made prior. And without each other’s contact details, the only way this could have been done was through the accused.”
The drugs in the deal were never recovered.
However, at trial the Crown did tender photos of blocks of cocaine which they claimed were similar to the ones described by Person A.
The court was told that Person A said that the 1kg block was stamped with “T7”.
And that matched a description of drugs seized by the Australian Federal Police in July 2018.
During the trial, one of the key issues was the allegation that Mr MacGill had acted as a “go between” to help negotiate the deal beforehand.
MacGill denied having any knowledge of any drug deal.
And the Crown prosecution was unable to tender evidence about the contents of his phone because a USB which contained a download of its contents was lost before the matter went to trial.
The court was told that it was alleged that Person A was involved in two further drug deals with Mr Sotiropoulos.
And on a third occasion, Person A ripped off the suppliers by paying with a vacuum-sealed block of A4 paper with $50 notes on the outside before fleeing with 2 kgs of cocaine, which he later on-sold.
That incident led to MacGill allegedly being kidnapped and taken to an abandoned shed at Bringelly.
The court heard that prior to the alleged kidnapping, Mr MacGill’s phone was taken from him and not returned.
During his evidence to the court, the officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Constable Aron Toundjel, told the court the phone was thrown through the front door of the News Corp offices at Surry Hills on May 31, 2021 by an unknown person.
Footage of the incident was tendered to the court, showing a hooded figure throwing the phone through a revolving door.
Mr MacGill’s phone was then handed over to police.
Officers downloaded the contents of the phone using the Cellebrite program, however the USB stick which contained the data was later lost.
“When it was in the possession of police as at the 1st of June 2021, you gave some evidence that a Cellebrite was conducted on that phone,” Crown prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman asked during the trial.
“Yes,” Sen Con Toundjel replied.
“And ultimately that download that was placed on a USB was misplaced somehow by the NSW Police,” Ms Steedman said.
“Correct,” Sen Con Toundjel said.
“And we don’t have the benefit of the download as at today?” Ms Steedman asked.
“No,” Sen Con Toundjel said.
The phone was then handed over to MacGill in July 2021 and remained in his possession.
During his evidence, Mr MacGill was presented with call charge records, which revealed who he was messaging and when.
But it didn’t reveal the content of the messages.
The call charge record revealed that on April 8 – the day he met with Person A and Mr Sotiropoulos in the underground car park – he exchanged a number of messages with Person A.
It was put to him by the Crown that one of them was from Person A, telling him “You’re a man of your word.”
“I never received that message,” MacGill replied.
He described them as random conversations with Person A.
He said while such conversations were not a regular occurrence, he said “they happened.”
MacGill will remain on bail before he faces a sentence hearing in May.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
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