Judge takes aim at prosecutors and gun-part smuggling Adelaide helicopter pilot Ronald Alfred Maurer

A judge has taken aim at both prosecutors and a globetrotting, gun-part smuggling helicopter pilot over their “very sloppy” court battle.

The actions of a globetrotting helicopter pilot caught smuggling gun parts into Australia from the US are so serious as to warrant jail, a judge says - regardless of the “generous attitude” of prosecutors.

On Tuesday, Judge Paul Muscat critiqued the “very sloppy work” done, by federal prosecutors, in the case of Ronald Alfred Maurer after they sought to have his hearing adjourned.

He said prosecutors should have finalised their case against the pilot, who pleaded guilty to smuggling charges, long before his scheduled sentencing submissions date.

Told that prosecutors would not oppose Maurer receiving a suspended sentence, Judge Muscat issued a warning to the pilot and his defence counsel.

“I’m certainly not bound by the prosecution’s attitude toward penalty, and I take a very serious view of this offending - extremely serious,” he said.

“You will need to know that I do not feel bound to that attitude, no matter how generous that attitude is.”

Ronald Alfred Maurer outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: Sean Fewster.

Maurer, 56, of Adelaide, pleaded guilty to importing prohibited firearms parts into the country, and to lying to Border Force officers.

He was caught, at Sydney Airport in July 2021, with ammunition magazines, gunsmithing equipment and holsters in his luggage.

Maurer had also smuggled materials and instructions to build semiautomatic guns, including rifle barrels for which he had fashioned “fake knobs” to “disguise as gear sticks”.

In January 2023, prosecutors alleged he had run the same scheme on seven prior occasions between 2017 and 2019.

They alleged Maurer travelled regularly between Florida, in the US, and Australia, and placed orders for gun parts “very proximate” to his departure dates – which he denied.

On Tuesday, prosecutors asked for time to file additional charges relating to the alleged importation, by Maurer, of ammunition magazines.

They also asked Judge Muscat to impose sentence on the basis that the earlier importations had occurred - Andrew Culshaw, for Maurer, objected to that course.

“I would not want to be taken as assenting to that position... it’s the prosecution’s position and should be proven beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.

He said Maurer had been a licensed firearm owner at the time, with a long history of responsible gun use and community service.

His interest in the parts, he said, was in the construction of weapons rather than their use.

Mr Culshaw said his client’s two long stints in Covid quarantine, following his arrest, had led to him “giving up” on guns and “handing back” all his weapons.

Judge Muscat said Maurer could not be punished for the earlier alleged importations - but nor could he receive leniency.

“He has imported parts for a Glock 9mm that has no identifying marks - was he licensed for that?” he said.

“I want to see the certificates of disposal for the guns he handed back and his firearms licence - if he’s still a holder of it, I will be cancelling it and making an order he’s disqualified until further order of the court.

“This man has demonstrated, by his importation of parts on this and past occasions, he’s not a fit person to hold a firearms licence.”

He remanded Maurer on continuing bail until next month.