A British drug courier whose mother warned him he would "end up in prison" if he did not change his ways has been ordered to serve a maximum of six years in jail.
Ben Asadollahi Zoje, 31, was caught importing nearly 1.5kg of MDMA into Australia concealed in tins of bath salts after he stepped off a business class flight from London to Sydney in May 2014.
The UK national has been behind bars since then and with time served, he will be eligible for parole in August next year.
Dressed in a sharp suit and spectacles, Zoje appeared impassive as Sydney District Court judge Stephen Hanley handed down his sentence.
His mother Suzanne Cowper-Smith, who had flown from England for her son's court case, sobbed as she left the courthouse.
The court heard during a sentencing hearing earlier this week that Zoje had once enjoyed an international career as a jumps riding jockey.
But he moved to the infamous Spanish party island of Ibiza after suffering a career-ending injury and Ms Cowper-Smith said her polite and respectful son returned to London a changed man.
"He wasn't in a good place," she said on Wednesday.
"He was a bit out of control."
Ms Cowper-Smith said before the crime, Zoje had been living beyond his means and was regularly asking his parents for money.
When Ms Cowper-Smith refused yet another request for more cash, Judge Hanley said on Friday, "somewhat presciently, she told him if he did not change he would end up in prison".
Judge Hanley said that although Zoje was a "mere courier" in the drug scheme, "he played an important and essential role in carrying out the importation".
He arrived in Australia in May 2014 with just under two kilograms of a crystalline substance sealed inside bath product tins, containing MDMA - ecstasy - with a pure weight of just under 1.5kg.
Though he initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of importing a border-controlled drug into Australia and faced trial last year, that trial was aborted and Zoje changed his plea to guilty earlier this week.
Ms Cowper-Smith told the court she had watched her son transform during his time behind bars.
"It's wonderful to see him change back," she said.
Judge Hanley said he was satisfied that Zoje had excellent prospects of rehabilitation and handed the 31-year-old a non-parole period of three years and three months.
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