Of the 10 kilograms of dried cannabis found throughout Paul Psaila's house and shed on Wednesday, almost nine kilograms was divided into sealed vacuumed bags.

The bags were packaged with cleaning agents, while one bag was unusually wrapped in a pillow case, Christmas paper and placed in a cardboard box ready to be mailed.

During the search warrant executed at Psaila's property, Ballarat CIU detectives located cartridge ammunition for various shotguns and a silencer.

In a bunker beneath Psaila's shed, detectives found drug paraphernalia for growing cannabis, including lamps and scales, while nutrients were found nearby.

The 57-year-old plasterer was arrested and interviewed at the Gordon Police Station. He was charged with six offences, including trafficking, growing and possessing cannabis, possessing ammunition without a licence and possessing a silencer.

He pleaded guilty to four of those charges at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Thursday and was sentenced to prison.

Defence lawyer Heidi Keighran said her client's wife died two years ago and he started another relationship which had just ended.

"He said his mential health since that break down is in turmoil and he contacted Lifeline for advice four days ago," Ms Keighran said.

"There are some real live issues with his mental health."

Ms Keighran said as part of the Howard government's firearm amnesty, Psaila handed his guns in but he had some ammunition left at his house. He could not recall why he had not surrendered the silencer.

The court was told Psaila was a cannabis user, preferring to use it in cookies and cakes. He has had his own plastering business for 37 years, has two children living in Queensland and has grandchildren.

Ms Keighran sought a community corrections order for Psaila, saying his prior drug convictions occurred 10 years ago and prison would be significantly harder because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Mitchell Prewett said a term of imprisonment was within range.

"This is very serious offending with a large quantity of cannabis. It's so serious parliament legislated a maximum of 15 years' imprisonment. The offending was motivated by personal gain," Senior Constable Prewett said.

"There is no mitigating factors other than his plea of guilty."

The prosecutor said the ammunition and silencer was a concern to police and imprisonment would meet sentencing principles of punishment, community protection and deterrence.

Magistrate Noreen Toohey said no sentence other than imprisonment was open to the court.

"This is a very sophisticated, well organised, well planned enterprise by the accused. The drugs were clearly packaged for trafficking," Ms Toohey said.

"No sentence other than a term of imprisonment is open to the court. This is really serious offending. He has set up an enterprise for trafficking. The court must punish and denounce this activity."

Psaila was sentenced to 18 months in jail with a non-parole period of 12 months. He was convicted and fined $1000.

One day was declared as already served by pre-sentence detention. He has appealed the sentence.

Psaila would have been sentenced to three years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 months if he did not plead guilty, according to the magistrate.

Lifeline: 131114

IN OTHER NEWS:

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.