Former Scots College rugby player admits to role in large drug supply
Jake Michael Prindiville, 28. a former young gun for the 1st XV at the exclusive Scots College in Bellevue Hill, attended the Downing Centre District Court on Friday for a sentencing hearing, flanked by his family.
He pleaded guilty to taking part in supplying a prohibited drug in a large commercial quantity, over his involvement in a substantial cocaine supply in Ashfield, in Sydney's inner west in October 2023.
The charge carries a maximum potential term of life imprisonment.
Defence barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court 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 was in communications with a contact that went by the name of 'Mickey Mouse' in the hours prior to the supply.
Following a stint at Connect Global, a rehabilitation centre north of Newcastle, his 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 employment.
The court was told the young man has 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 Brewarina were not really assisted by his mother who was his only contact in that community.'
Mr Boulten added Prindiville had 'achieved a lot' since his arrest and has 'reasonable prospects' for rehabilitation.
The Crown Prosecution conceded the 'exceptional' nature of Prindiville's case.
'There's not much I can say against what Mr Boulten has already said.'
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