Phillip Batticiotto, 51, was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria last month on a charge of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of precursor chemicals. A jury in May found Batticiotto and co-accused Anil Suri guilty for their role in a plot to ship 100 kilograms of pseudoephedrine - used to make illegal drugs - from India.

Court documents show Batticiotto, a father-of-four, provided the introductions and acted as an intermediary between groups from Adelaide and Griffith in March 2008. He then became eligible for a share of the 50 per cent stake held by the NSW men once the conspiracy was hatched. Batticiotto's role lessened over time but he was never a silent partner, continuing to provide encouragement, ideas, critiques and warnings.

Police swooped on Suri, 58, at Melbourne Airport as he stepped off a flight from India in August 2008.

His arrest came days after police detained 19 people across four states for their role in a gang behind Australia's largest drug bust. Fifteen million tablets, or 4.4 tonnes, of ecstasy secreted inside tomato tins were intercepted by police in Melbourne in June 2007.

Batticiotto was charged in April 2009 as part of a second wave of arrests that netted six people. Those men, including the Canberran, were only charged with a single offence.

Batticiotto played no part in the ecstasy importation.

A total of 33 people were charged for their involvement in the crime network, dominated by figures linked to the Calabrian mafia.

A County Court sentencing hearing heard that Batticiotto was a disability pensioner who suffered from bladder cancer, diabetes, heart disease and depression. The court heard his family ran a wholesale meat business in Canberra that had suffered a 50 per cent drop in profit since his arrest.

Judge James Montgomery sentenced Batticiotto to 10 years' jail, backdated to take into account time spent in custody, with a non-parole period of seven years. He will be eligible for release on July 8, 2020, at the age of 58.

In handing down sentence, Judge Montgomery accepted Batticiotto had an otherwise clean criminal record and showed prospects of rehabilitation. The judge said ill health and his incarceration in Victoria distant from his family would make the sentence a greater burden.

"Other than this offending, it would seem you are a hardworking dedicated family man,'' the judge said. "[But] offenders who are involved in the drug trade for profit must understand that the consequence of a conviction is a significant jail sentence.''

Suri will be sentenced later this month.