<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former Australian Test cricket star Stuart MacGill might still be jailed, but he has been spared a potential life sentence over his role in a $330,000 cocaine deal that led to his violent kidnapping.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The former leg spinner, whose post-cricket life has been marred by regular cocaine use, was acquitted on Thursday of taking part in a large commercial drug supply that began under his restaurant in April 2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the Sydney District Court jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict to a lesser charge of drug supply.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sam-jones-wombat-video-australian-department-of-home-affairs-reviewing-visa/749a8080-0371-4f0f-b4ab-cdb9b02f53b3" target="_blank"><strong><span>US tourist's visa under review after 'appalling' wombat video</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They found MacGill knew the cocaine deal between his regular dealer and his brother-in-law was taking place but was oblivious a one-kilogram brick was changing hands.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>MacGill, 54, showed little emotion as the verdicts were read.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The man whose 44-Test career came in the shadow of cricketing great Shane Warne remained tight-lipped as he left court surrounded by cameras and reporters.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/extest-spinner-macgill-acquitted-of-major-drug-supply/3c153e82-5496-4ad3-bf55-3f5c643baa17" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury heard the illicit exchange of $330,000 for a kilogram of cocaine was struck between a dealer known as Person A and Marino Sotiropoulos, the brother of MacGill's partner.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury heard the ex-cricketer was a regular user of cocaine and bought the drug from Person A for years, usually in half-gram quantities for $200.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was a trusted buyer, allowed to rack up $1000 in drug debts and receiving expensive bottles of alcohol for his patronage, the jury heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trump-tariffs-from-soup-cans-to-airplanes-steel-and-aluminum-are-a-fundamental-part-of-american-life/2a77ca7f-5678-4305-849f-4be95dea3f7b" target="_blank"><strong><span>From soup cans to planes, how Trump's tariffs will impact everyday life</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While an initial deal went off without a hitch, Person A decided to rip Sotiropoulos' associates off days later, fleeing with cocaine worth $660,000, Crown prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman told the jury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The dealer exchanged the drugs for a vacuum-sealed bag of A4 paper concealed by $50 notes, before turning off his phone and deleting the encrypted app he was using.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Threats started to come in demanding the location of Person A or the return of the money, leading to MacGill's kidnapping later in April.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The former Test bowler was bundled into the back of a car by several men and taken to an abandoned shed at Bringelly, in Sydney's west, where he was assaulted, threatened and released, the jury heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Six days later he went to police and denied involvement in the drug supply, Steedman said, although he admitted introducing Person A to Sotiropoulos.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/albion-rideshare-driver-left-lifechanging-injuries-after-machete-attack-in-melbourne/ac4960bb-8c9c-41ad-9e82-e61e3dfbb34c" target="_blank"><strong><span>Ride-share driver left with life-changing injuries after group machete attack</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the cricketer denied knowing the one-kilogram deal was to take place, Steedman argued the deal could not have occurred without the prior involvement of MacGill, who she attacked as not an impressive witness.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>MacGill had allegedly complained about the quality of the cocaine Person A was selling him and said his brother-in-law could get him "good gear" in a large quantity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She also pointed to the dealer's assertions MacGill was in the car park under the Sydney restaurant until the dealer and Sotiropoulos drove off in one car.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The exchange took place in the car as it drove across town.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>MacGill was arrested in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence barrister Thos Hodgson attacked Person A as prone to dishonesty and motivated to get a lower sentence for his own drug supply conviction by implicating MacGill.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>MacGill's prior sharing of his dealer's number with other users - which the Crown claimed showed a tendency to get involved in a larger deal - was also dismissed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It would not be unusual for people who consume cocaine together ... to say 'where do you get your cocaine?'" Hodgson said in his closing address.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>MacGill, who retired in 2008 after claiming 208 Test scalps at an average of 29.02, remains on bail until a sentence hearing on May 9.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He has flagged he will seek legal costs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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