Domenic Perre pleaded guilty to three counts of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of cannabis with District Court Judge Rauf Soulio describing the 63-year-old as a central figure in the drug enterprise.

The offending came to light when police placed a listening device in a shed used by Perre which revealed him discussing and planning the growth of the plants and their sale.

"Your role in relation to the trafficking of cannabis included providing directions and advice to others, arranging meetings where cannabis and cash were exchanged and facilitating the transportation of cannabis to Western Australia," Judge Soulio said.

The judge said he accepted Perre suffered from a range of serious medical conditions but evidence suggested those conditions could be managed in prison, provided he was willing to cooperate with authorities.

He said Perre also had a significant criminal record, mandating he be sentenced as a serious repeat offender.

He jailed Perre for just over seven years and six months with a non-parole period of six years and 10 days.

Perre has also pleaded not guilty and will stand trial by judge-alone in October charged with murder and attempted murder over the 1994 NCA office blast which killed Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and injured lawyer Peter Wallis.

He was arrested in 2018 following a joint investigation, lasting more than two years, by a number of state and federal authorities including the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

He had been charged shortly after the bombing, but the charges were later withdrawn.

The NCA bombing has been one of South Australia's highest-profile cases, with a $1 million reward offered in 2008 for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible.

Australian Associated Press