Scott Miller, an Olympian, was certain to be discovered attempting to carry meth from Sydney to the Victorian border.
Olympic swimmer Scott Miller has blamed his drug misuse and “post-elite competition despair” for his fall into selling meth.
Miller was scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday in Sydney after entering a guilty plea for his part in a botched effort to smuggle meth across New South Wales.
Miller, 47, was charged with further drug offences for which he has not yet taken a plea, according to the Downing Centre District Court, thus a psychiatric assessment for the man was not yet complete.
Attorney Greg Goold testified before the court that his client had been diagnosed with substance misuse problem and “post-elite competitive sadness.”
Miller, who won the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, has struggled since quitting swimming and has recently had problems in his personal life.
He acknowledged that he was struggling with a drug addiction in an interview with 60 Minutes in 2014. He has previously spoken on drug awareness and prevention for the Narconon programme of the Church of Scientology.
Charlotte Dawson, a Sydney socialite and TV host, and Miller were married for a short period between 1999 and 2000. Dawson committed suicide in 2014.
In March, Miller entered a guilty plea to providing a banned substance in a large commercial amount, a commercial quantity, and dealing with the profits of crime.
He was initially accused of intentionally leading a criminal organisation, but following Mr. Goold’s arguments, the allegation was reduced to involvement in the drug ring, to which he also admitted guilt.
Justin Szabolics, 45, entered a guilty plea to being a member of a criminal organisation and distributing a banned substance in a significant commercial amount.
Wayne Allan Johnson, 49, entered a guilty plea to being a member of a criminal organisation and supplying a substance that was illegal.
Miller and his three foolish accomplices were arrested as a result of Miller’s intention to transport 4kg of meth worth $2.2 million across the state.
With cops keeping an eye on, listening to, and tracing every movement of the narcotics from beginning to end, the whole clumsy operation had little chance of success.
Miller delivered the shipment for delivery to Albury after driving the meth 280 kilometres from Sydney to Yass.
But when two inexperienced mules got into a high-speed chase with highway enforcement agents, the narcotics were abandoned more than 200 kilometres to the south.
Police stumbled across a shipment of candles that each contained half a kilogramme of methylamphetamine early last year, which sparked the start of their probe into Miller.
Police discovered a group that included Miller, Johnson, Szabolics, and Luke Mathew Peake through tracking internet conversations.
Police were able to put trackers, listening devices, and optical devices inside the white Toyota Camry Miller was driving with Western Australian licence plates after obtaining a warrant for surveillance equipment.
By using such tools, it was discovered that the Camry featured a covert, electrically locking chamber beneath the rear passenger seat that could only be accessed by following a certain set of steps.
Miller took the Camry from Wise Street in Rozelle to White Street in Balmain at 4:30 pm on January 11. When Miller got out of the automobile and went to Elkington Park, the hide was deserted.
A short while later, an unidentified male opening the rear passenger door while wearing a hi-visibility clothing and face mask dropped a blue, white, and red bag into the footwell.
Eight candles in glass canisters containing 3,961 grammes of meth, sometimes known as “eye” by dealers, were packed within the bag.
To shatter the meth, which was in oil form and combined with candle wax, it was intended to turn it into crystals.
Miller got back in the Camry at 4.30 p.m. and drove it to Thornton Street in Balmain, where he allegedly used his phone to snap pictures of the footwell.
He then opened the hide, which necessitated turning on the engine, and placed the bag’s contents within the compartment before fastening it.
Miller parked the Camry on Terry Street in the neighbourhood for the night.
Miller called Johnson just after 6 o’clock using the ostensibly encrypted ANOM mobile phone app, which was then a favourite among thieves. EyeQ was Miller’s alias, while Snowy Mountain was Johnson’s.
Both males were unaware that ANOM had been set up by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and that Australian Federal Police analysts were monitoring conversations.
The eye has to be cut free from the wax and broken into pieces, says Miller.
“I speak to them tomorrow,” says Johnson. I worked hard for tonight. Several days ago, someone was with him. said he wouldn’t be able to visit me tomorrow in Tull.
Miller: “Ok, I feel pressure from OS folks to do it quickly… Yo… Yo.’
The next day at noon, Miller picked up the Camry and headed to Homebush before continuing on without pausing back to Balmain. At 12:04 PM, he sent Johnson another message through ANOM.
Miller: “Heading to Yass.” Tiger up my ass, dude, on M4… I need you. Come with me, M4 I’m going around now. I’ll go to your location.
Johnson says, “I’ve been riding my scooter for 20 minutes.”
Miller informed Johnson that he was parked in a dead end close to his house just before 1 o’clock and asked him to come outside with his encrypted Ciphr phone. Around 1.30 pm, Johnson joined him and claimed he couldn’t find his Ciphr.
After Miller demonstrated how to open the hide, Johnson inserted a tiny object inside the compartment. They then used the M4 highway in a westward direction.
They made a stop for petrol and refreshments at a service station at Pheasants Nest, some 100 kilometres southwest of Sydney, at 2:44 p.m. Johnson gained control of the vehicle.
On the same day, Peake had connected with Miller’s acquaintance Szabolics at Albury, on the boundary of New South Wales and Victoria.
Peake was informed by Szabolics that he was employed by Miller and that picking up a car in Yass was a requirement of his position.
According to a statement of facts, “[Peake] was worried about Szabolics travelling such lengths without company and volunteered to come with him.” Szabolics had broken up with a girlfriend at the time, and the perpetrator was concerned about his mental health.
Szabolics and Peake travelled 270 kilometres to Yass in the north-east and booked into the Thunderbird Motel at 4:28 p.m. Miller and Johnson arrived in the Camry around 30 minutes later.
Later, Johnson used the secret opening multiple times to load stuff and take out the blue, white, and red bag.
Later, the four guys travelled to a lonely road, where Johnson demonstrated to Szabolics how to open the hide while the Camry was refuelled with a jerry can.
After returning to the Thunderbird Motel, Johnson gave Peake the bag to place in the concealed compartment of the Camry.
Miller told Szabolics that operating a vehicle with Western Australian licence plates was not an issue as the four people gathered around the vehicle. After that, everyone ate dinner at the Club House Hotel.
Szabolics and Peake got into the Camry just before 9 o’clock and started south on the Hume Highway toward Albury. At about eleven o’clock they made a pit break at Little Billabong.
According to a statement of facts, Szabolics “injected gear” during this time and informed Peake about his friendship with Miller, claiming that others were “in his pocket” and that he “gets s**t done.”
He said that he and Miller had gone to rehab twice together and he called Miller a “good c**t” for not believing that you can do anything you want as long as you’re doing your s**t. He doesn’t tell me, for instance, not to do drugs.
After that, the two continued their trip with Peake behind the wheel despite being barred from doing so.
A Holbrook highway police car attempted to pull over the Camry at 11.46 p.m. and flashed its warning lights. “Go,” Szabolics commanded Peake.
Peake sped to 200 km/h during the police chase before abruptly stopping and going onto the wrong side of the road at Woomargama Way.
Police put an end to the chase out of concern for their safety.
Szabolics and Peake quarrelled over where to go next when the pursuit was done, and Szabolics took over the wheel.
According to a statement of facts, “Szabolics informed [Peake] after the exchange that it would be awful if they were caught with the contents of the bag.”
Peake said, “We’ve simply gotta go back to [indecipherable], and then we’re going to f***ing conceal the car someplace,” while Szabolics was operating the vehicle.
Peake entered the concealed compartment as the car’s interior light turned on. They slowed down when Peake stated something to the lines of “stash this,” and Peake then remarked, “Tree.”
Near 12.03 a.m., the Camry stopped at the Cookardinia junction of Holbrook Wagga Road and Rose Valley Lane, where Peake hid the bag in the dense grass behind a huge tree. They then took a drive to Jindera Street in Jindera and left the car there.
Police discovered the drug-filled bag later that day where Peake had hidden it.
A statement of facts said that “the next day Szabolics contacted [Peake] and urged him to come and recover the goods.”
Peake declined since he did not want to participate in the illegal conduct. He eventually gave up, but they were unable to locate the bag.
Peake and Szabolics were taken into jail on January 14 after being detained for unrelated reasons.
On February 16 soon after 6am, a search warrant was executed at Miller’s flat in Rozelle. At the apartment, the Camry was discovered.
As detectives searched the area for evidence, video showed cops breaking down the door of the apartment where Miller was seen slumped on a chair and photographed shirtless.
In a cardboard box inside a walk-in closet at his residence, 796.8 grammes of heroin were discovered by the police. They discovered $69,870 in a safe, $500 in a satchel, $2,175 in the same closet, and $2,175 total.
While Peake and Szabolics weren’t charged with the narcotics operation until March 16—a month later—Johnson was detained on the same day as Miller.
Peake, 42, entered a guilty plea to participating in the commercial distribution of an illegal substance, operating a vehicle while ineligible, and operating a vehicle carelessly and at high speeds while under police pursuit.
He was given minimum sentences of 15 months in March for each offence, and on May 13 he was qualified for parole.
While in detention, Miller was further accused with running a criminal organisation between April and October 2020 in connection with a separate alleged scheme.
Mr. Goold claimed that his client had a substance misuse condition in 2020 and had not pleaded guilty to those counts.
Miller is charged with intentionally contributing to the production of 1 kilogramme of methylamphetamine, which is a significant amount by commercial standards.
He is also accused of conspiring with two other defendants to produce a sizable commercial amount of meth by supplying 3kg of the substance.
Miller, Szabolics, and Johnson’s sentence was postponed by Judge Tim Gartlemann on Wednesday until November 3.
How Scott Miller made use of the FBI and federal police’s ANOM app
Miller was using the encrypted ANOM communication app at the time of his arrest for participating in a $2.2 million meth network.
It took many months before the covert operation of ANOM and the surveillance of criminals utilising the programme by foreign law enforcement organisations were made public.
In order to communicate with a friend concerning the supply of illegal substances, Miller used the alias “EyeQ” on the app, according to court records.
He said in a message that this was “both of us finest opportunities to generate appropriate money yet.”
Another message from EyeQ said, “this is a line from OS we can earn good,” “H is the greatest market bro everyone has cash,” and “this is a line from H we can earn good.”
According to court filings, police assert that “H” stands for “heroin,” and that Miller was trying to find a buyer for some of that substance via a friend.