Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will spend five months in prison for tampering with evidence after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star and left the pilot a paraplegic.
In August, the former Netflix star was found guilty of lying to police and pressuring a hospitalized witness after the 2022 crash in the Northern Territory (NT).
On Friday, Acting Justice Alan Blow handed Wright a 10-month prison term, to be suspended after he serves half of it. He was also fined A$5,000 (approximately $3,300 or £2,500).
Justice Blow stated Wright had shown no remorse while also indicating that he was very unlikely to reoffend in any significant way in the future.
The maximum sentence for Wright's charges could have reached 15 years in prison.
Wright had been accused of tampering with evidence following a helicopter crash in February 2022 in Arnhem Land. His friend and Outback Wrangler co-star Chris Willow Wilson was killed during the accident while the pilot, Sebastian Robinson, was severely injured.
During the trial, prosecutors highlighted that Wright had lied about the amount of fuel in the helicopter at the time of the crash and pressured Robinson in the hospital to alter flight records that documented flying hours for maintenance purposes.
The case, which included a jury that could not agree on a third charge of Wright asking someone to destroy evidence, has been surrounded by controversy and raised critical questions about practices within the NT helicopter community, where there were claims of falsifying flight records being typical.
Despite Wright's popularity as a television figure, his actions have prompted discussions about the responsibilities that come with public stature and the integrity of operations within the aviation industry.
Both Wright and his legal team plan to appeal the guilty verdicts as discussions around the implications of this case continue to unfold in the public eye.
