Gangland Kingpin’s Drug Sentence Cut After Court Finds ‘Unusual Circumstances’
Australia’s notorious crime boss Tony Mokbel — once at the centre of Melbourne’s bloody gangland wars — has had one of his drug sentences reduced after the revelation that his lawyer was secretly working as a police informant.
On November 6, Victoria’s Court of Appeal reduced Mokbel’s sentence for trafficking over 41 kilograms of methylamphetamine between 2006 and 2007 from 20 years to 13 years, seven months, and 15 days. The reduction effectively means he has already served his time.
A Lawyer Turned Informant
Mokbel, the criminal mastermind behind the syndicate known as “The Company”, was originally jailed for 30 years in 2012 after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges. But that plea — along with several others — has been called into question since it emerged that his high-profile lawyer, Nicola Gobbo (known publicly as Lawyer X or Informer 3838), had been covertly feeding information to police while representing major crime figures.
The Court of Appeal previously quashed one of Mokbel’s convictions and ordered a possible retrial for another, ruling that his guilty pleas were tainted by Gobbo’s secret cooperation with law enforcement.
Court Acknowledges ‘Unusual Circumstances’
In the latest ruling, the justices said Mokbel’s crimes were “very grave”, but accepted that his case involved “unusual circumstances”, including the profound breach of legal ethics by Gobbo and the fact that Mokbel was a first-time drug offender. They also noted that Mokbel had suffered a serious injury in prison during his incarceration.
Mokbel, now in his late 50s, remains on bail pending a potential retrial on another charge.
Fallout from the Lawyer X Scandal
The Lawyer X scandal has rocked Australia’s justice system, with more than 22 convicted individuals notified they could have grounds to appeal. Gobbo’s cooperation with police, which began as early as 1999, helped lead to the arrest and prosecution of over 300 people during Melbourne’s violent underworld war.
A 2020 Royal Commission described her actions as “fundamental and appalling breaches” of her duties as a defence lawyer. It also criticised Victoria Police for recruiting her as an informant despite knowing she was representing the very people she was informing on.
Gobbo, who was first charged with drug offences in 1993, reportedly became a police informant to avoid prosecution. Authorities fought for five years to keep her identity secret, citing fears she would be murdered if exposed.