One of Australia's most notorious corrupt cops has moved a step closer to being released from jail after being handed a decades-long sentence for a drug-supply plot.
Mark Standen, a former senior investigator at the NSW Crime Commission, was sentenced in 2011 to a maximum 22 years behind bars on a state charge of supplying prohibited drugs.
He plotted to import at least 300kg of pseudoephedrine into Australia after becoming involved in a conspiracy with an informant to smuggle the multimillion-dollar haul.
Standen is also serving 18 years' jail on a federal charge of conspiracy to import a large commercial quantity of drugs, with that term expiring in June 2026.
A narcotics officer, Standen used his law enforcement expertise to help drug traffickers avoid detection while importing pseudoephedrine, a precursor used to make methamphetamine.
On Friday, the NSW State Parole Authority granted Standen parole from June, but it noted this did not mean he would walk free as he was still serving time on the federal charge.
“Whether the offender will, despite the authority’s orders, remain in custody in respect of the unexpired portion of the sentence imposed for the conspiracy offence, will be a matter for the commonwealth authorities,” authority chair Geoffrey Bellew said in a statement.
The authority's decision came after a serious offenders' review said Standen's release on parole was "sufficient for his re-integration and the protection of the public".
He had "consistently denied and minimised responsibility for his offending", a report noted, but had since "accepted the reality and consequences of his conviction".
Standen appealed his conviction all the way to the High Court, but those bids were rejected and he has been held in custody since 2008.
He had completed a law degree while in custody and was considered a low risk of reoffending due to that, his strong family support and his lack of serious mental health issues, the parole authority noted.
Standen had a law enforcement career from 1975 before it was derailed by what a judge called his "deep involvement" with illegal drugs.
His case sparked an inquiry into the integrity of the secretive NSW Crime Commission, which probes homicide, terrorism, serious drug offences and money laundering.
