AMERICAN MODEL AND CANADIAN DJ SENTECED OVER COCAINE SMUGGLING

PHOTO New York-based model Nathaniel Carty was involved in the operation which saw cocaine concealed in suitcases.

Nathaniel Carty seemed to have the world at his feet two years ago.

Aged 21, the New York-based model had already worked for brands like Puma, Adidas and Coca-Cola.

But when he spoke to a Canadian employee of Vice Magazine at a New York bar, it set in motion a chain of events that would see him become a drug courier, now languishing in an Australian prison.

Carty, who a judge today found was "completely out of his depth," was among four North American men sentenced for importing more than $22 million worth of cocaine into the country.

The drugs were concealed in suitcases on a flight from Los Angeles and intercepted at Sydney Airport.

Carty had mentioned to Vice employee Slava Pastuk that he always wanted to go to Australia and was told, "I can make that happen".

People had paid for his flights before, so initially he had no reason to be suspicious.

That changed when he was told he would have to pick something up in Las Vegas first.

Another man arranged the trip and Carty told police that when he wanted to back out, he was threatened.

"I am firmly of the view that he [Carty] was the most naive of the offenders," Judge Dina Yehia said.

She sentenced him to a minimum three years and four months in jail.

With time already served, he will be eligible for release on parole in April 2019.

Canadian DJ Jordan Gardner, who was carrying $3.6 million worth of the drug in his luggage, was handed a minimum four years and four months in jail.

Kutiba Senusi, 24, received the same penalty, while 25-year-old Robert Wang will spend at least four years in prison.

The judge accepted Gardner was fearful when a member of a Mexican drug cartel confronted him with a gun after meeting him in Las Vegas, where the drugs were collected.

She described all four men as having a menial role, who were "exploited by people who were ruthless, manipulative and persistent".

A fourth Canadian, Porscha Wade, is due to be sentenced later this year.