The 61-year-old appeared in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to seek a sentence indication from Magistrate Peter Mithen.
Police Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Chris Cole told the court police investigating a car fire behind the Shepparton Hotel in September 2019 had approached Mr Muto about obtaining vision from security cameras.
Mr Muto told the officers he couldn’t remember the access password.
Police returned with a warrant to seize the hard drive and in the course of their search located a zip-lock bag on a desk which contained 7.21g of methamphetamine.
The court heard when asked about the contents of the bag Mr Muto replied, “Why are you setting me up”.
His lawyer Manny Nicolosi gave Mr Muto’s address as the Shepparton Hotel and said he led a “fairly quiet sort of life” on his property.
In seeking a fine, he said the only relevant prior was a cannabis possession charge in 1997 for which his client received a bond.
Leading Sen Constable Cole said a fine was within the range for sentencing but the scale should also reflect the quantity of drugs found.
“It is a significant amount of drugs,” he said.
Mr Mithen indicated he would impose a $1000 fine if Mr Muto was to plead guilty.
After a brief adjournment to allow Mr Nicolosi to discuss the indication the matter resumed with Mr Muto objecting to a 28-day delay in returning the security system hard drive.
Leading Sen Constable Cole explained that despite any guilty plea, the appeal period had to expire before property could be returned.
“Manny, this is ridiculous,” Mr Muto exclaimed.
Mr Muto said the delay in the case was so police could extract what was needed from the hard drive and return it, so a business on the hotel site could operate.
The magistrate asked if Mr Muto was willing to accept the sentence indication as his lawyer had indicated.
“No,” he said.
Mr Nicolosi then suggested the case be booked in for a contested hearing, telling the court he’d done his “level best”.
“You have not tried your level best at all. You haven’t listened to what I’m saying,” Mr Muto said.
The magistrate warned against staging a debate and criticising his counsel.
“I’d rather sack this lawyer,” Mr Muto said.
Leading Sen Constable Cole interjected and offered to contact the police informant to see whether the hard drive could be available immediately once the matter was settled.
“I will accept the sentencing indication if the hard drive is returned to the Shepparton Hotel so they can open their business – it is nothing to do with them,” Mr Muto said.
The case will resume again on Wednesday.
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