A former girlfriend of underworld killer George Marrogi has avoided jail on a money laundering charge after a court accepted she was simply his ‘patsy’.
On Monday, one of Marrogi’s former girlfriends, Jessica Homa, pleaded guilty to unwittingly helping the crime boss to launder $100,000 through her wedding events company.
She walked free on Wednesday from the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court without conviction on a two-year good behaviour bond.
Melbourne woman Jessica Homa was pictured accepting bundles of ill-gotten cash from the Marrogi clan
George Marrogi, 33, was the mastermind of a $50 million drug deal from behind bars
In cutting her loose, Magistrate Kieran Gilligan accepted the then 24-year old had been used by Marrogi to do his evil bidding.
‘It is apparent from the circumstances of this case that the offence was committed in extenuating circumstances,’ he said.
‘In my view, you were the patsy of Marrogi and were simply the conduit for him and his associates to launder money from those illegal activities.’
The 27-year old was the second of Marrogi’s girlfriends to have faced jail time over her involvement with Marrogi and his Melbourne Notorious Crime Family gang.
Homa had found out the hard way Marrogi had been playing her while getting it on with another woman.
She also learned that relationship could have sent her to prison for up to a year.
In February, Marrogi’s other girlfriend, Antonietta Mannella, 28, was sentenced to 13 years in jail after admitting to helping him run his international drug importation syndicate.
Marrogi was sentenced last year in the Supreme Court of Victoria to a total of 32 years in jail over the cold blooded public execution of a drug rival.
The court heard the crime boss had sunk his claws into Homa, manipulating and isolating her from her family in a bid for her to help him hide the proceeds of his prison methamphetamine-dealing operation.
Her barrister, Doctor Mark Gumbleton said Homa had been the director of a legitimate wedding company when Marrogi persuaded her to accept $105,000 in cash.
Melbourne woman Jessica Homa was also accused of doing Marrogi’s bidding
In sentencing, Mr Gilligan accepted Marrogi had demanded Homa refund him the money, which she had used as wages for her wedding company.
He further accepted Marrogi made Homa put her name to a $3million property, which when sold she was forced to hand over and pay the tax office capital gains tax out of her own pocket.
‘You obtained no financial gain and in fact incurred a debt from the taxation office. The company had otherwise operated lawfully,’ Mr Gilligan said.
The court heard Homa’s reputation had been left in tatters after media reporting of her role in the Marrogi laundering operation.
Dr Gumbleton had argued a ‘full page spread’ that featured in Melbourne’s Herald Sun had contributed to ‘extra-curial punishment’ of his client – a submission accepted by the magistrate.
‘You’ll see that Ms Homa is depicted head-to-toe on page 7 of our most widely distributed (newspaper),’ Dr Gumbleton said.
Charity worker Antonietta Mannella was jailed after helping Marrogi run his business from jail
Homa’s sentence is the first of more than a dozen people facing charges over Marrogi’s money laundering scheme through a police operation codenamed ‘Steelers’.
Marrogi’s brother Jesse Marrogi is set to appear in court on Thursday over his alleged involvement in the crime.
Mannella, who appeared in court on Monday from jail, and Marrogi’s own mother Madlin Enwiya both pleaded guilty to money laundering charges, with their matters to return to court in December.
The County Court of Victoria heard in January that Mannella had been the best friend of Marrogi’s dead sister when she inexplicably hooked-up with the jailbird.
She was busted while attempting to move 800 litres of the drug Butanediol from South to Victoria.
The court heard n Federal Police had Mannella’s phone tapped and had listened to every conversation she had with the crime boss.