Hoan Nguyen, 38, was found in a car with bags of cannabis he and another man had cut earlier from plants growing at a Bacchus Marsh house.

Off duty police officers became suspicious about the house when they noticed a car would come and go but only stay for short periods of time and the blinds were always drawn but lights would go on and off at times.

They also noticed condensation on the windows indicating the house was warm inside despite no one appearing to be living there.

One of the off duty officers notified the Moorabool Crime Investigation Unit when they saw a car leaving the property in September 2020.

Police officers later intercepted the car in Deer Park and found Nguyen and a co-accused inside with seven bags of fresh cannabis.

Nguyen had the keys to the Bacchus Marsh house with him.

A search of the house uncovered rooms set up to grow cannabis, with 89 plants, and empty pots with plant remnants that looked like they had just been cut.

The total weight of cannabis found, including in the car, was 77 kilograms, over the traffickable quantityof 25kg.

The court heard Nguyen did not have a valid visa to be in Australia at the time of the offending.

A defence barrister said Nguyen became involved in 'crop sitting' through a friend and was motivated by financial reasons.

Judge Tiwan said he accepted this but also considered Nguyen a 'trusted' and important member of the enterprise as he was involved in harvesting the plants and transporting the cannabis.

"It would have been apparent to you from your visits to the house that this was a relatively extensive operation and you were a trusted and important member of the enterprise," he said.

He said Nguyen had arrived in Australia in 2013, spent four years in immigration detention, then married and worked until he lost his job during the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge Pardeep Tiwan said he took into account the fact Nguyen was likely to be deported upon his release from prison and that this weighed heavily upon him.

He said general deterrence was an important sentencing factor as the end product caused 'misery' in the community.

"This is a prevalent offence," Judge Tiwan said.

"The sentence imposed must deter not only those arrested and working under the instruction of others, but all working in the cultivation enterprise.

"This includes the organisers who often avoid detection and are the ones to reap significant rewards."

The court heard Nguyen had concerns about returning to Vietnam and his time in custody was burdensome because he struggled with stress and anxiety and difficulty sleeping.

He was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment, with a 20 month non-parole period, with 613 days marked as time already served.

Nguyen pleaded guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis at the County Court of Victoria on Thursday and was sentenced on Friday.

He had no prior convictions.

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.