Olympian Scott Miller (pictured) will plead guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug
Swimming great Scott Miller will plead guilty over his role in a multi million-dollar meth smuggling syndicate.
The 46-year-old has admitted driving 4kg of the drug from Sydney to a town in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands in January last year.
Miller’s case was listed before Central Local Court on Thursday when it was revealed he was ready to enter guilty pleas to offences including the large commercial supply of a prohibited drug.
His lawyers and the Director of Public Prosecutions had agreed on a statement of facts which now only required Miller’s signature for the case to proceed to sentencing.
As part of that process a charge of knowingly directing a criminal group will be downgraded to participating in the drug syndicate.
Supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug has a maximum penalty of life in prison in NSW but the average sentence is about seven years.
Miller will also plead guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime after almost a kilogram of heroin and more than $70,000 in cash were found in his home when he was arrested.
He was refused bail a year ago and is on remand at the maximum-security Mid North Coast Correctional Centre near Kempsey.
Drug runner Scott Miller won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the 100m butterfly. He was married to TV personality Charlotte Dawson from 1999 to 2000. Dawson took her own life In 2014. The couple is pictured in August 1999
Miller sat slumped and shirtless in a chair as police searched his apartment at Rozelle, in Sydney’s inner west, just after dawn on February 16 last year. Police found almost a kilogram of heroin in his home as well as more than $70,000 in cash
The Olympic silver medallist was one of four men charged over the transportation of 4kg of meth worth about $2.2million from Sydney to Yass in January last year.
The others were Wayne Allan Johnson, 48, Justin Szabolics, 45, and Luke Mathew Peake, 41.
Miller, the 100m butterfly silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, drove the drugs about 280km from Sydney to Yass where the consignment was collected by Szabolics and Peake.
The meth was ditched more than 200km further south after Peake and Szabolics were involved in a high-speed pursuit with police.
Peake has pleaded guilty to taking part in the supply of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and possessing a prohibited drug.
He has also pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle while disqualified and driving recklessly and at dangerous speeds during the police pursuit.
The investigation into Miller began early last year after police discovered a shipment of candles which each allegedly contained half a kilogram of high-quality methylamphetamine. The substance was moulded into glass containers
Miller has admitted having troubles in his personal life in recent years. During an interview with 60 Minutes in 2014 he admitted he was battling a drug addiction. He is pictured at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in 1996, the year of the Atlanta Olympics
Szabolics indicated on Wednesday he was ready to plead guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and participating in a criminal group.
Johnson is yet to enter pleas to charges of supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs and participating in a criminal group.
The investigation into Miller began early last year after police discovered a shipment of candles which each contained half a kilogram of methylamphetamine.
The NSW State Crime Command’s Drug and Firearms Squad and NSW Crime Commission worked together under the auspices of Strike Force Tarrawilla.
Miller had collected a white Toyota Camry from the Balmain area on January 11 after a man wearing high-vis clothing left a red, white and blue striped bag in the car’s footwell.
Scott Miller drove this Toyota Camry from Sydney about 280km to Yass with 4kg of meth hidden in a secret compartment. The car and drugs were then handed to Justin Szabolics and Luke Peake who headed down the Hume Highway towards Albury
The meth, worth $2.2million, was concealed in eight candles which were put in a red, white and blue striped bag that was stashed in this hidden compartment
The retired athlete hid the bag, which held eight candles containing the drugs, in a secret compartment and left the vehicle in the area overnight.
The next day Miller picked up a man and the pair drove the Camry, which had Western Australian plates, to Yass, according to police. It is alleged that the man who was picked up was Johnson.
The Camry was then handed over to Szabolics and Peake who drove down the Hume Highway towards the Victorian border.
Both Szabolics and Peake are from Albury-Wodonga, which police say was the intended destination for the consignment.
During the journey, a highway patrol unit unsuccessfully tried to pull over the Camry near Holbrook, about 215km south-west of Yass, and gave chase.
The pursuit was terminated after about 15 minutes shortly after midnight when it became too dangerous.
A highway patrol unit unsuccessfully tried to pull over the Camry and gave chase as it reached high speeds. The chase was terminated shortly before midnight when it became too dangerous. Miller is pictured inset top and bottom
This image shows one of the candles used to smuggle the $2.2million worth of meth. The drug was moulded into the candle’s glass shell
The next day police found the bag containing the drugs in long grass near an intersection at Cookardinia, about 25km north of Holbrook.
It was more than a month before Miller was arrested just after 6am on February 16 at his home at Rozelle, in Sydney’s inner-west.
Dramatic footage showed police busting down the door of Miller’s unit where they seized 910g of heroin and $72,595 in cash, as well as the white Camry.
Miller was photographed shirtless and slumped on a chair while investigators scoured the unit for evidence.
On the march: Miller was allowed to put on a striped polo shirt before he was handcuffed and taken to Newtown police station to be charged
More than a dozen police attended Miller’s apartment block, meticulously sorting through his possessions. One policeman was pictured carrying a set of scales out of the property.
Officers were seen lifting Miller’s mattress and inspecting a packet of anti-inflammatory medication as his pet pug waddled excitedly around the unit.
Mobile phones, documents, encrypted electronic devices and smaller amounts of allegedly prohibited drugs were taken away for forensic testing.
Miller, who is being represented by high-profile solicitor Greg Goold, has admitted having troubles in his personal life in recent years.
During an interview with 60 Minutes in 2014 he admitted he was battling a drug addiction.
He worked as a drug awareness and prevention speaker with the Church of Scientology’s Narconon program, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Miller is also known for his brief marriage to Sydney socialite and TV presenter Charlotte Dawson between 1999 and 2000. Dawson took her own life in 2014.
Before his arrest Miller had been working for a trucking company.
Miller and Szabolics are due back in Central Local Court in a week when Johnson will face the same court. Peake will appear for sentencing in the Downing Centre District Court later in March.
How Scott Miller ‘used ANOM app run by the FBI and federal police’
At the time of his arrest over a $2.2million meth syndicate Miller was allegedly using the encrypted ANOM communication app.
That was months before international law enforcement agencies revealed they had been secretly running ANOM and monitoring criminals using the service.
Miller allegedly called himself ‘EyeQ’ on the app to communicate with an associate about the supply of prohibited drugs, according to court documents.
In one message he allegedly wrote: ‘This both of our best opportunity yet to make proper money.’
Another message from EyeQ stated, ‘this is a line from OS we can earn good’, followed by, ‘H is the best market bro everyone has cash’.
Miller was allegedly using the encrypted ANOM communication app favoured by drug dealers when he was charged over a $2.2million meth syndicate
Police claim ‘H’ refers to heroin and that Miller was seeking to secure a buyer for a quantity of that drug through an associate, according to court documents.
While Miller was found in possession of almost a kilogram of heroin after his arrest there is no evidence he ever supplied it to anyone.
Court documents state GPS data puts a person using the ANOM handle EyeQ at or near Miller’s address when the user describes himself as being ‘home’.
Four days before Miller was arrested over the meth syndicate, EyeQ sent messages saying, ‘I got just under 900 grams returned’ and ‘passed loot back’
Four days before Miller was arrested over the meth syndicate, EyeQ sent messages saying, ‘I got just under 900 grams returned’ and ‘passed loot back’.
ANOM was secretly set up and controlled by the FBI which encouraged distribution of the app to transnational serious organised crime groups.
Communications were monitored by the Australian Federal Police in a covert three-year operation dubbed Ironside which culminated in the execution of hundreds of search warrants across the country last June.
As of December, the AFP had charged 311 offenders with 820 offences and seized more than 7.3 tonnes of drugs, as well as $52million in suspected proceeds of crime.
While Miller and some of his associates were allegedly using ANOM to discuss drug dealing his arrest was not part of Operation Ironside.
