From life of luxury to prison for Alen Moradian

ALEN Moradian was the cocaine king who loved luxury - he will now spend at least six years in a cell, far from his former life in a suburban Sydney mansion.

HE was the cocaine king who loved luxury - he will now spend at least six years in a cell, far from his former life in a suburban Sydney mansion.

Alen Moradian, once nicknamed the "Tony Soprano" of the Australian cocaine importation trade, was yesterday sentenced to a maximum of 16 years and nine months behind bars.

He pleaded guilty last year to importing a large commercial quantity of the drug, and then supplying it.

Sydney's District Court heard Moradian had acknowledged importing 40kg of the drug from the US in late 2006, despite the Crown alleging the total amount was closer to 200kg.

Judge Andrew Haesler said Moradian's crimes were motivated by "personal profit and greed" and his sentence must discourage others from being tempted by the illicit drug trade.

The 37-year-old was sentenced to a non-parole period of 10 years but, given he has been in custody since July 2007, he will be eligible for release on Christmas Eve 2017.

Moradian was given discounts for pleading guilty and providing some "co-operation" to police.

The court heard Moradian organised for several weapons, including a grenade launcher and some machineguns, to be handed back to police, with his barrister Phillip Boulten SC saying "it is highly unlikely there has been a handover of guns like this since (former) prime minister John Howard offered a gun amnesty to all Australians (following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre)".But Judge Haesler said he hadn't revealed where the weapons had come from and if they had been used in criminal activity.

Moradian was dubbed "Tony Soprano" by his wife Natasha after decking out their Pennant Hills home with designer items and big boys' toys such as a gold-plated magnum gun, luxury cars and motorcycles.

An email sent to Moradian by his wife, which was previously tendered to the court, said: "Why do you just sit there and show off ... do you see Tony Soprano doing that? He points it all off on a junior for a reason - to take the heat away from him. You want the attention, you get a big head, you love it. People like that won't survive."

Moradian also admitted to knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime to the amount of $1.6 million, part of which was spent on his and Natasha's wedding in 2007.

The Iraqi-born Moradian showed no emotion as he was sentenced.