The son of disgraced ex-NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid could be out of prison within weeks as he waits to learn his fate for giving false evidence to the state's corruption watchdog more than a decade ago.
Moses Obeid is already behind bars over a conspiracy to commit an offence of misconduct in public office.
He was jailed for at least three years in October 2021, alongside his former Labor powerbroker father Eddie Obeid and ex-resources minister Ian Macdonald.
The conspiracy related to a coal exploration licence covering a property the Obeids owned in the Bylong Valley in the NSW upper-Hunter region.
But the younger Obeid could leave custody to continue his sentence under home detention within weeks, his barrister Philip Strickland SC told the NSW District Court on Tuesday.
“He will, or is most likely, to be released into the community in April,” Mr Strickland said.
“So he’ll finish the remaining part of his non-parole period on home detention,” he said, referring to a sentencing assessment report prepared for Obeid.
He is eligible for parole in October over the conspiracy, but is still awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to two counts of giving false or misleading evidence to a public inquiry.
Those charges relate to statements given to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in May and November 2012, about the provision of a Honda CR-V to then-minister Eric Roozendaal in 2007.
Mr Roozendaal was cleared of any wrongdoing over the affair, but Obeid was found to have acted corruptly and along with several others was referred for possible criminal charges.
Co-offender and former Obeid business partner Rocco Triulcio was in January placed on a 21-month intensive correction order, staying out of prison on strict supervision conditions.
Obeid’s lawyers are seeking a similar order.
The assessment report's author, Catherine Garrett, told the court Obeid had been identified for possible reintegration home detention, available six months before a non-parole period expires for prisoners assessed as being a low risk of reoffending.
He would be able to complete up to 20 hours of community service work a month if the court ordered it, she said.
The local office at Muswellbrook, near the Bylong Valley, had been contacted to see what community service work would be available to him in the area, Ms Garrett said.
However, a decision was yet to be made despite Obeid being assessed as suitable for the program.
Forensic psychologist Stephen Woods opined Obeid may have been impaired by a major depressive disorder when he lied to the watchdog, given how irrational it was for him to persist, with little to gain in the face of mounting evidence.
“It was very clear to all that he was lying,” Prof Woods said via phone as the prosecutors cross-examined him over his opinion on Tuesday.
Judge Antony Townsden invited both parties to make further written submissions regarding the suitability and availability of an intensive corrections order before the matter returns to court in April.
