Accused Vic killer jailed for gun imports

A Victorian man has been jailed for importing guns from America via a woman he is now accused of murdering.

Steven Samaras, 49, arranged for Tamara Turner to send him illegal firearms from Missouri before funding her flight to Australia, where they lived together, the County Court was told.

He was jailed on Friday for three years and seven months, with a minimum of two years, after pleading guilty to charges including importing prohibited firearms, and possessing an unregistered long-arm and unregistered handgun.

Judge Claire Quin said the crime involved some planning, with Samaras arranging for the three separate consignments of guns, which were in working order and "posed a serious danger to public safety".

She said the importation offence was "particularly serious" and her sentence needed to send a message to deter others from similar offending.

Prosecutors said Samaras proposed to Ms Turner within two hours of meeting on Facebook in October, 2015.

He arranged for her to send the guns and paid via a direct funds transfer of $US1030 before she travelled to Australia.

When the packages arrived, they were examined by Australia Post and found to include a single-barrel shotgun, two pistols, a stun gun and live shotgun shells.

A police search of Samaras' Kinglake property, also uncovered another three rifles, a cut-down rifle and a silencer under the kitchen sink.

An air rifle was also discovered in a bedroom cupboard.

Samaras admitted to police he owned the guns at his property and he was unlicensed but denied involvement in the importation.

He initially told investigators he took the guns from friends and family, and bought them off "crims" to get them off the streets.

The court heard Samaras, a car detailer, grew up in "fairly rough circumstances" and was of low intelligence.

Judge Quin accepted his anxiety and depression disorder would make jail harder for him.

Samaras has a history of weapons offending and previous jail stints and the judge was guarded about his rehabilitation.

He will face a committal hearing for Ms Turner's murder in April.