The law on discounting sentences for guilty pleas is authoritatively stated in guideline judgments, not by two-judge bench decisions that purport to derive supplementary principles from those guidelines. A sentence at the top of the guideline range for drug importation does not necessarily demonstrate error notwithstanding an early guilty plea, where the sentencing judge has taken the plea and subjective circumstances into account. The hardship of a foreign national incarcerated in Australia after coming specifically to import drugs is of limited mitigating value.
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