James Anthony Cunneen, 31, was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact for helping Sayle Kenneth Newson dump murdered mother Carly McBride's body at Owens Gap, west of Scone in the NSW Hunter region, in September 2014.
He had pleaded not guilty.
Newson was sentenced to 27 years in prison in December 2021 after viciously beating Ms McBride to death in a "fit of jealousy".
Cunneen was sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court on Friday.
Ms McBride was at one point the face of Missing Persons Week, before her unburied skeletal remains were found by bushwalkers in the remote location she was left almost two years after her murder in August 2016.
In sentencing Cunneen on Friday, Judge Phillip Mahony said the offences were committed at a time when Cunneen was living a criminal lifestyle, being a chronic drug user who was also charged with firearm and drug supply offences around the same time.
"For a young man he has already served a substantial time in custody," Judge Mahony said.
He said the majority of Cunneen's offending stemmed from drug use
Cunneen's assistance, local knowledge and silence helped Newson avoid detection, Judge Mahony said.
Cunneen knew to take back roads to the Owens Gap site to avoid point-to-point cameras on the New England Highway between Muswellbrook and Scone.
He also posted a picture of Ms McBride on a community Facebook page claiming she was a missing person on October 1, 2014, despite helping dispose of her corpse a day earlier.
Cunneen also stayed silent about it for several years, hindering the police investigation and denying closure to Ms McBride's family.
"This was not a case of a mere failure by the offender to report the murder," Judge Mahony said.
His ongoing silence had prevented the arrest of Newson for a number of years.
Judge Mahony determined Cunneen's actions were not the result of some "misguided loyalty" to the older Newson.
Rather, it was a deliberate choice by Cunneen to place Newson's interests ahead of Ms McBride's family and the wider community.
"I lost out big time, I gave everything to help someone get out of a bad situation," said messages Cunneen sent to a friend, read in court.
"He's a good mate but that's not why I did it," Cunneen had texted, saying Newson was the only person who would have helped him if the tables were turned.
The court had heard testimonials that Cunneen was a model prisoner who had since abstained from drug use, but Judge Mahony did not accept assessments he had a low risk of reoffending.
"Notwithstanding his abstinence … his prospects of rehabilitation must remain somewhat guarded," Judge Mahony said.
Cunneen sat silently in the dock while being sentenced, giving a brief wave to supporters in the court before being led back to prison.
He will be eligible for parole in May 2026.
6°C