Elite school graduate's ‘risky role' in drug deal

Yahoo

07-07-2025

A former high-level rugby player who attended an elite private boarding school has been sentenced for his role in the transportation of several kilos of cocaine.
Jake Michael Prindiville, 28, a graduate of the prestigious Scots College in Sydney's leafy eastern suburbs, was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years, for supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
In early October 2024, shortly after returning from a holiday abroad, Prindiville became embroiled in a plot to transport 12kg of cocaine – a crime that was referred to as largely 'spontaneous' by the judge and which Prindiville's defence said 'stemmed from an urgent need to obtain money'.
Due to the time Prindiville has already spent in rehab, he will be eligible for parole on November 13, 2026.
Defence barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court that his client was offered money to play 'a risky role in someone else's supply of a large commercial quantity of cocaine to someone else'.
'His job was to take possession of the sports bag in which the drugs were located and to be the mechanism by which the intended purchaser would take possession of the drugs,' he said.
Mr Boulten said Prindiville only became 'much more aware of the significance of what he was doing' when he 'picked up the bag and could feel that it was a heavy bag'.
'His participation and his knowledge of taking part in supply can be measured in minutes not hours or days,' he said.
The court was told Prindiville communicated with a contact named 'Mickey Mouse' in the hours prior to the supply.
Following a stint at Connect Global, a rehabilitation centre north of Newcastle, Prindiville's bail was varied in August 2024 to allow him to reside at home under a strict curfew.
These conditions were suspended in April 2025 to allow him to travel to work.
The court was told Prindiville had struggled with childhood dysfunction, ongoing drug use, and post traumatic stress disorder, making him 'vulnerable'.
'It's made it very difficult for him to lead a stable life,' Mr Boulten said.
'Jail will be quite hard … he's still vulnerable.'
While struggling through high school, Prindiville experienced 'vile, disgusting abuse' for which he would eventually receive compensation in early adulthood.
'There is little wonder … hardly any wonder that the offender was an early starter in consuming alcohol and illegal drugs when he was still at school. Like his father, he was smoking cannabis … and as a teenager became much more aware of his mother's family and, therefore, his Aboriginality,' Mr Boulten said.
'Any attempts that he made to make significant inroads into his community from Brewarrina were not really assisted by his mother, who was his only contact in that community.'
Mr Boulten added that Prindiville had 'achieved a lot' since his arrest and had 'reasonable prospects' for rehabilitation.
'He's smart, he's very smart. He's held jobs for a while at different places, he attended UTS, he received a real estate licence from TAFE in 2020, and he's maintained several close intimate relationships,' he said.
It is also understood Prindiville undertook a brief stint as a personal trainer, according to a since-deleted Instagram account called 'prindi_transformations'.
The Crown prosecution conceded the 'exceptional' nature of Prindiville's case.
'There's not much I can say against what Mr Bolton has already said,' he said.
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