Champion boxer turned cocaine dealer to spend 15 years in jail

A CHAMPION boxer turned key player in a lucrative cocaine ring run out of a St Kilda apartment will remain behind bars after his appeal was dismissed.

A FORMER champion boxer who became a key player in a lucrative St Kilda cocaine ring will continue to serve at least 15 years in prison after his appeal was dismissed.

Vladimir Djordjic, 34, pleaded guilty in October 2017 to a slew of charges, including supplying 1.5kg of cocaine over about two months to a drug syndicate being operated out of an apartment in St Kilda.

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Police surveillance bugs placed at the Tennyson St apartment captured Djordjic making six visits between August 25 and November 1, 2015, to drop off drugs and collect $365,000 in payments.

And during a search of Djordjic’s rented flat in Caulfield North, police found a further 2.3kg of cocaine, 1.9kg of methylamphetamine and weapons, including an unregistered semiautomatic pistol and knuckleduster tasers.

Cash totalling $2.7 million was also found at the property, including $90,000 hidden under a floorboard in the bedroom.

The former Olympic hopeful was sentenced to a minimum 14 years and six months behind bars after pleading guilty to all charges.

But defence lawyers lodged an appeal on a number of grounds, including that the sentence was “manifestly excessive”.

But the Court of Appeal last week dismissed Djordjic’s bid to have his sentence reduced.

“The applicant was involved at a high level in the operation that was involved in trafficking (cocaine),” it found.

“While the sentence was stern it reflected, appropriately, the seriousness of the offending that the applicant had engaged in and … (sent) a clear and unambiguous message by the courts that those who wish to reap large profits from the egregious trade of drug trafficking must, if detected, expect to lose their liberty for a long period of time.”

Masterminds of the drug dealing operation Julian Gallin and Christopher Carron were on Monday sentenced for their role in the scheme.

The syndicate made made 2042 cocaine transactions worth between $600 and $800 a bag.

Gallin pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine in a large commercial quantity and was jailed for nine and a half years with a minimum of five.

Carron pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine in a commercial quantity and was placed on a five-year community correction order with 600 hours of unpaid service.

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