Stephen Roche has pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice after trying to smuggle a fugitive drug trafficker out of Australia.
The prosecution is pushing for the Irish national to face prison time for the offence but his defence lawyer argued the 123 days he has already served on remand is enough.
Roche will return to court for sentencing on December 1.
An Irish national who drove a fugitive drug trafficker 4,680 kilometres across Australia in a rented van to help him evade justice is facing the prospect of prison time in Darwin.
Stephen Roche was arrested on the Northern Territory's Gove Peninsula in January last year over his role in helping New South Wales fugitive Hussein Chamas try to escape Australia onboard a yacht.
Under instruction from a shadowy international syndicate, Mr Roche picked up Chamas from an address in Sydney after the latter had used forged documents to flee a court-enforced stint in a rehab centre, and the pair embarked on a four-day road trip to the NT.
Their campervan broke down on the way to the remote East Arnhem Land region and the pair had to be towed into Nhulunbuy.
After their arrival, Chamas was met on the Gove Peninsula by a yacht waiting offshore from a local beach.
