five years in jail with a non-parole period of three years, and granted parole in 2019. Appeal In June 2017 before the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, Obeid lodged an appeal against both his conviction and his sentence on the basis that he should not have stood trial in any court because breaches of the code of conduct governing NSW Members Parliament are within the exclusive cognisance or jurisdiction of Parliament, rather than the courts. On 13 September 2017 the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, Bathurst CJ, Leeming JA, Hulme, Hamill and Adams JJ, dismissed the appeal against both his conviction and his sentence. The Court held that it would be an affront to the administration of justice for the Court to decline to exercise its jurisdiction and that it was inconceivable that a politician of sixteen years standing who had been a Minister for four years did not know that his duty was to serve the public interest and that he was not elected to use his position to advance his own or his family’s pecuniary interests. Obeid's legal team subsequently sought leave to lodge an appeal against his conviction with the High Court of Australia; claiming that the courts had no jurisdiction to hear a case about misconduct in public office and that jurisdiction rested with the NSW Parliament. Handing down its ruling on 22 March 2018, the High Court, before Bell, Keane and Edelman JJ, ruled there was insufficient possibility the appeal would succeed and leave was refused. Criminal conspiracy Further to Operations Cyrus, Meeka and Cabot, the DPP charged Obeid and his son, Moses, of conspiring over a coal exploration licence granted over the Obeid family farm in the Bylong Valley, when Ian Macdonald was Resources Minister from 2007 to 2009. Macdonald was separately charged with misconduct in public office. All three were tried before Justice Elizabeth Fullerton, and the trial commenced in early 2020 and concluded in February 2021. None of the accused gave evidence at their trial. Justice Fullerton handed down her verdict on 19 July, finding all three guilty. On 21 October 2021, Obeid was sentenced to seven years' gaol, however was immediately released on bail due to concerns about the risk of Obeid contracting COVID. Macdonald and Moses Obeid were also given custodial sentences and did not apply for bail. Obeid, together with his son and Macdonald, lodged an appeal against their