Former NRL player Jamil Hopoate has been jailed after trying to deliver eight kilograms of cocaine through Sydney.
The former Brisbane lock, who has twice been jailed previously for violent incidents, was arrested at gunpoint during a police sting in May 2021.
On Thursday, Judge Sharron Norton ordered Hopoate, 27, spend a minimum of two years and three months behind bars, dismissing arguments by his legal team that serving time in the community was more appropriate.
"I am satisfied no sentence other than one involving full-time custody would reflect the criminality encompassed in the offender's conduct," the judge said.
He faces maximum jail time of three years and nine months and will be eligible for parole on July 25, 2024.
Before being escorted away by police officers, Hopoate hugged his tearful partner Shea Beathe, kissed his young daughter and said "I love you" to family members who were in court.
At the time of Hopoate's arrest, federal police found eight kilograms of cocaine hidden in a consignment of toolboxes, replaced it with an innocuous powder and then tracked it as it was distributed across Sydney.
The son of former Manly winger John Hopoate and brother of former Canterbury star Will was seen collecting eight blocks of powder and then riding in a van that was stopped by police.
Hopoate was paid $10,000 to move the slabs but had no profit stake in the cocaine supply, Judge Norton found.
Hopoate spent about two months on remand before being bailed on the drug charge in July 2019.
Since July 2021, he's been unable to touch alcohol or other drugs or gamble due to his strict bail conditions.
Hopoate was dumped by Manly Sea Eagles in 2014 when jailed for a year for a drunken, brutal and unprovoked attack on a man outside a local pub.
Having gained permission to return to NRL in 2020, he played 12 matches in Brisbane's sub-par season, mostly off the bench and was let go.
He was jailed again this year for three months after failing to complete 250 hours of community service, as ordered by a court in 2021.
That community service related to assault and intimidation offences in Port Macquarie in 2020.
