Two men who were part of a group that stole 12,000 vapes in a "premeditated and thoroughly dishonest" money-making scheme have avoided time behind bars.
The group made off with the e-cigarettes after handing the victim a bag of paper instead of an agreed $63,000 in cash.
Majad Khan Khan and Amro Aseeri were sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Aseeri, 25, and Khan, 24, had previously pleaded guilty to one count each of dishonestly obtaining property by deception.
Both men received a more than 21-month prison sentence, to be suspended upon entering into a good behaviour order for two years.
Co-offenders Joshua Alan Rhodes and Albion Osmani were previously sentenced for their part in the crime. Both avoided jail time and were given sentences to be served in the community.
On Wednesday, Justice David Mossop said the crime was a "premeditated and thoroughly dishonest scheme" motivated by financial gain.
The judge stated the vapes had not been recovered.
Aseeri had told a report author "he felt hurt and betrayed by his accomplices" and had written a letter of apology to the court.
Justice Mossop found Aseeri's claims he had a "lapse of judgement" were not possible to label as "true remorse".
"The lack of explanation as to how or why he became involved in the offending ... makes it difficult to accept [character] references," Justice Mossop said.
Aseeri's barrister, Travis Jackson, said the crime "has the hallmarks of a drug rip off but it is tabacco".
Mr Jackson said Aseeri was "at the lowest of the heirachy" in the group involved in the scheme.
Khan, however, had told a report author he had been "dragged into" the crime by a friend and wasn't aware of all the details.
Justice Mossop stated a character reference written by Khan's brother used language "consistent with an AI-generated document".
"The high praise of the offender is hard to reconcile with his involvement in the offending."
Legal Aid lawyer Georgia Le Couteur, who represented Khan, said the reference had been translated from another language, not developed through artificial intelligence.
Agreed facts for Aseeri and Khan, previously tendered to the court, state that in April 2021, Rhodes made enquiries with the victim and other sellers on Facebook Marketplace about purchasing a large volume of e-cigarettes.
Rhodes agreed to purchase 12,000 IGET e-cigarettes from the victim for $63,600.
The next month the four offenders made off with the e-cigarettes without paying.
Instead, Rhodes handed the victim a bag full of pieces of paper.
The bag contained several envelopes roughly the size of Australian currency with rubber bands wrapped around them, and with numbers written on the front purportedly to indicate the amount of money each envelope contained, the facts state.
When a friend of the victim opened the envelopes, he saw they contained paper instead of money.
The friend then yelled: "There's no money. Catch him!"
Aseeri, Rhodes and Osmani then escaped in a small blue getaway car.
Khan had already left the scene of the crime, driving a black Fiat loaded with the stolen e-cigarettes.
