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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
listener production you are listening to episode 272 of the howie games part b featuring scott miller do not forget to watch scott's doco on the abc deep end the scott miller story you can watch episode one on abc iview episode two is this monday june 29 on we go Do you have any questions to ask? How are we going here?
We're going all right. We're going okay?
Yeah, yeah. I think the great thing about this is there's a lot of light. There's a lot of sunshine at the end of your story. Yeah. But I guess we're in a pretty dark patch at the moment.
It's a dark patch. It's a dark story, yeah.
So how does it ā you know, you're in and out of court a couple of times. Yeah. But what was the ā yeah, what was the plan for the deal that ended you in prison?
What was the plan? The plan was a 15 grand earn for me to drop the package. What was the package? The package had candles in it, yeah. Candles with methamphetamine. Right.
A disgraced Olympic swimmer, now accused of being a drug mastermind. Scott Miller was arrested at his Sydney home this morning. A few weeks ago, police seized four kilograms of ice with a street value of $2 million hidden inside candles.
For all intents and purposes, they looked like normal candles, but we know that they weren't. How much, like, street value, what are we talking?
Oh, what the newspaper's saying, what's true are two different things. There was, they charged me for four kilos of methamphetamine. Right. But in New South Wales police, they charge you on the mass of the weight. Yep. So the candles might have been four kilos, but inside each candle was only about 400 grams of methamphetamine. or 350 grams of methamphetamine.
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Chapter 2: What led Scott Miller to a life of crime?
I was going to go under and this opportunity came up and I just saw it as a way to stay afloat and not sink another company.
So what happened? You were transporting it in a car? Yeah. And what happened?
Well, I was using the Anom app, so the police were all over us. The Anom app. Yeah.
Which was an encrypted app which... Was designed by the FBI and the AFP. Which, the Australian Federal Police, but obviously the people using it for nefarious activities didn't realise that was the case.
It was supposed to be like the phone for criminals. That's what the group handed out. That's what I was... Told to use and... And the coppers could read all that. They read everything, everything. Every message was going straight to them. Yeah, so they knew what car to put the cameras in. I had four cameras and two trackers. In your car? In my car, yeah. They watched us the whole way. Yeah.
It's like a movie. Yeah.
So they're filming you, they're recording everything. Everything. So you dropped the drugs? Yep. You think it's all sweet?
Just swapped cars. Just didn't have to touch the drugs. Just swapped cars halfway. And then the car that kept going with the drugs ended up getting in a police chase. And I'm thinking, oh, fucking hell, another bloody story.
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Chapter 3: How did Scott's arrest unfold?
Oh, they got in a copper chase.
Yeah. So they're all out. They're going to... But... And then it was a month later before I got arrested for it.
Did you think in that month someone was going to come knocking on my door or did you think it was okay? No, I knew something was wrong. Had you been paid?
No, no. Wrong. No, hadn't been. Because what needed to be done hadn't been done.
Sometimes you see on the news where obviously police have worked in conjunction with media or whether it's police media themselves, but the amazing thing, you wouldn't find it amazing, but watching the doco is your arrest when they use that battering ram to bang into your door. It's all filmed.
Scott Miller was arrested early this morning here at his Roselle apartment overlooking the water in relation to the large supply of ice. You hopefully can see some pictures. Police are still undertaking a search. Warren, inside his unit, bagging potential evidence... Well, they can't stand him.
What were you doing when they stormed in? I was in bed and naked. Right. Yeah. I had a machine gun at my head. I was up, hands on the wall, naked, with a machine gun at my head with one of the Raptor guys whispering in my ear, can't have a new form far. Really? From Olympian champion to drug dealer. That's what he said. That's what he said, whispered in my ear. Yeah.
So... Like, you're whacked in the back of a divvy van, as the song goes. What are you thinking at this point? Relief. Relief? Relief. That's a strange adjective. Why relief?
Because it's finally over. I've been stopped. Finally.
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Chapter 4: What was Scott's experience like during his time in prison?
So you were remanded. Yeah. Yeah. Straight into remand and I refused, I didn't even bother going for bail. I knew I was gone. I didn't want to waste any time. I didn't want to waste a day out of jail that I have to spend this, I'm saying. So I didn't get to see that because when you go to court, you're in a prison in Kempsey and it's not AVL. So I'll go to a room like this. There'll be a screen.
The judge will be there. Okay. And I'll just see you talking like I'm talking to you now. Yeah. So that's what it's like. It's weird. You don't see anyone. The quote that stuck with me.
I'm going to read this back to you. Okay. Okay. It says Detective Superintendent John Watson from the New South Wales Police.
Yeah.
This hit me, but it's, I think it's important to read it because by in no way, shape or form is there any glory in what happened. So John Watson, Detective Superintendent said, this was not a small operation. They were well organised and well financed and they were intent on delivering death and misery right throughout the state.
which there's no glossing over it, Scotty, delivering death and misery right throughout the state. I'm not sure that's what your intent is, but that's the repercussions of the actions. Yeah. Pretty hard to hear that. Yeah. That painful. Yeah.
Well, that's what I was going to ask you. That's why I've got to do what I'm doing now. Yeah. I've got to square up with the community. Square up to them.
Like that's a shit thing to read to you in a small room here in a podcast, but I guess that's what you're dealing with, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. I went through all this in prison when you get to the stage where you write your letter to the judge on sentencing. Okay. And what do you write to him? Well, you've got to acknowledge this, what was just said. You've got to acknowledge the damage that you're doing, not to the families, to the users, to the community, the ripple effect. You've got to really understand.
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Chapter 5: How did Scott cope with the challenges of prison life?
Yeah. I was maxed out the whole time. How long were you in prison? I did three years, four months.
Run me through a day in prison because it's not like the average day because I guess they're all the same.
Depends what prison you're in. Kempsey, I was working in the buy-up unit and I was a clerk there. In the which? Buy-up. Right. What's that mean? Buy-up means it's like we're a special pod. We've got a factory behind our pod, which is like an IGA, which has got aisles of food, all stuff that you find in an IGA or a Coles, like a mini Coles.
And for the five or six jails around Kempsey, we would distribute ā Each inmate, each week, will get a buy-up for up to $100. So we do like 3,000 orders a week.
Are the inmates paying for that?
Yes, they pay for it, yeah. They pay for it, and we basically pick it and process it just like a pick-and-chick. So I was a clerk, so I used to run all of the stock take and all of the ordering and do all the reports on pronto, work pretty closely with the screws there.
So what's a sell? Sell. Again, in my head, it's ridiculous, mate. It's like Escape from Alcatraz. I can't relate to it, so that's why I'm going to ask these obvious questions. What's your cell? Okay, so your cell's about- Are you by yourself?
Well, there's one out and there's two outs. I went mainly two out because- Yeah, so that's with another person. Yeah, the one outs were too small, but generally a two out would be about from here- There'll be a bed that side. Yeah. There'll be a bed this side. There'll be a shower and a toilet. Okay. And a door. It was very small. Right. There's no cage around the toilet. You're there. Right.
It's happening. Yeah. It stinks. But you've got some rules between yourself, mate. Try to do it when they're out in the morning. Right. Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What did Scott learn about himself while incarcerated?
for three and a half years from 2.30 p.m. to 6.30 the next morning?
I just used to read, watch TV, play chess, play cards, think. A lot of thinking.
Yep.
Enormous amount of thinking. A lot of doodling. Right. Yeah.
Is it a fearful place?
When you go to a new jail, fresh. Walking into Kempsey for the first time, yeah. People know who you are? Yeah, some do.
Yeah. So talk me about the anxiety or the fear of walking in for the first time.
I can't relate to this stuff. You've just got a thousand, the whole pod's eyes are on you. So you might have 50 guys just staring at you and they fucking eyeball you when you're walking in. You've just got to... You've just got to keep your chin up. Don't look at the ground and just don't look them in the eye either. Just don't break your stare. Just, yeah, be confident.
What's the hardest thing about prison?
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Chapter 7: How did Scott begin to rebuild his life after prison?
A little bit older, but we found a good group there. Yeah. And how do you stop taking drugs? Well, that was a good way to start by going in there and then appreciating how you feel and just knowing that that's the gateway to going downhill again. I just can't risk it. I just don't want to do it anymore. I like feeling good. Yeah. And I don't feel like I need to numb myself anymore.
I feel like I want to feel. I don't want to not feel anymore.
Yeah.
I'm happy to hear that. Like the last question on prison. Again, it's movies. You get a visiting day and you sit across the table from someone. Who comes to visit you and what's it like when you see, I don't know if it's your loved ones or someone that's coming in from freedom and you're there in captivity?
Obviously you're happy to see them. Yeah, it's great to get a visit. And then it's shattering when the ones that you think will visit you never do.
Yeah.
So that's a bit of a sharp, painful lesson. But you appreciate the visits you got. And I got some great visits, some great friends, family. Yeah. So I was happy. Yeah.
So how do you find out that your sentence is coming to an end and what's the last ā morning light before you walk out to freedom.
Well, my situation was a bit funny because I did my second case and then the judge gave me... How it all worked out was an extra three months, but I was just under three months into that, and it was like, well, I'm getting out next week. Right. But I couldn't get out next week because the process of getting out actually took a lot longer than a week.
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Chapter 8: What role does discipline play in Scott's recovery?
And a beer. It was awesome. It was awesome. I can't tell you how good it was. Right.
Yeah. So at what stage ā I'm glad we're through some of the darkness now. As we head towards the light a bit more ā You always hear when people come out of prison that financially they can be in a difficult situation, relationships, structure, networks, and it's difficult to start again. How do you start again?
Well, that's a good question because they really make it impossible. Yep. Because when you get out, you go to Social Security and you get your doll, right? But to get your doll, you need a bank account, right? But try to find a bank that'll give you a bank account when you go to prison.
I went through seven or eight different banks, and within two weeks of applying for a card, they'd write back, say, sorry, this clause, we can't help you. So I've just got a job, too, driving a truck, so I've got to go tell my employer, give him a different bank account every second week, like five or six times, so embarrassing, because it kept getting shut down.
So it just doesn't make sense as to how you're supposed to start when that simple thing is so hard.
So what's the hardest thing about reintegrating?
The eyes. Feeling like you're getting judged. Because mine was thrown around in the media a bit.
Everywhere, mate.
Yeah. So I did feel like I was being looked at a lot and judged and it sort of made me go into a bit of a hole sometimes. And I can remember thinking after three months, I just wish I was back in, back in Hunter where I don't have to feel like this. It was a horrible feeling and it really took me a lot of mental strength to sort of, you know, just get on with it, stop whinging.
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