Roberta Williams walks free without having to lift an injured finger doing community service

Gangland widow Roberta Williams has avoided jail time and community service despite bringing in crooks to bash and blackmail a television producer.

On Friday, the ex-wife of the late Melbourne mobster Carl Williams was convicted and sentenced in Victoria County Court to a two-year community correction order.

But she avoided lifting a finger to help the community.

Williams pleaded guilty in May to charges of blackmail and reckless harm to her one-time TV producer Ryan Naumenko, who tuned in to her sentence via a video link to see his tormentor walk free.

By sentencing Williams on Friday, County Court of Victoria Judge Fiona Todd accepted that she would struggle to carry out community work due to a recent surgery on her hands.

She went on to accept that the convicted drug dealer had her hands full with her autistic child Giuseppe, whom she had referred to in her plea to escape both jail time and community service.

The ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Victorian prisons allowed Williams and her co-offenders to escape jail time, Judge Todd said.

Jake Sexton, 27, had agreed to help his buddy John Harrison when he got involved in the savage attack on Naumenko.

The chief of court, Harrison, had been recruited by Williams to stand over Naumenko.

On Friday, Sexton was found guilty and sentenced to a two-year community correction order, but was ordered to perform 150 hours of community service.

He pleaded guilty to intentionally inflicting injury on Naumenko.

A third co-offender, Hassam Al Zhwainy, was given a 12-month correctional order – without conviction – for his limited role in the standover, but was also fined $800 and required to perform 60 hours of community service.

Naumenko had made the mistake of contacting Williams with the idea of ​​filming a reality TV series about her life.

But when he didn’t cough up the payment to Williams’ buddy Daniel De Silva, who owned a video production company in Collingwood, Williams devised a plan to get the money back.

The court heard that Naumenko was lured to Mr. De Silva’s warehouse on July 9, 2019 after he refused to pay $14,300 he owed him for work already done on the planned reality series.

Naumenko falsely claimed that he raised $50,000 through GoFundMe to fund the “Mob Wives”-style reality show.

Williams was rightly concerned about the television producer, who is himself a convicted fraudster and former prisoner.

Earlier, the court heard that Williams was determined to get Naumenko before he got them.

“If one of the guys punches him and pushes him to get your money, it’s okay,” she told De Silva leading up to the attack.

The pair then devised a plan to lure Naumenko to De Silva’s media studio to collect the money he owed.

The court heard that Sexton agreed to attend the studio to help buddy John Harrison, who had been recruited by Williams to stand over Naumenko.

When Naumenko’s mother and children left the studio, De Silva told him he was “f**ked.”

“It’s all over now.” I want money now, Roberta wants money now, otherwise you’ll be screwed,’ De Silva said to Naumenko.

When the terrified producer promised to arrange the money, De Silva told him the time was up.

“It’s too late, you’re dead,” he told him.

The court heard Sexton punch Naumenko in the face, prompting the wild Williams into action.

“Kill the c**t, he ain’t got no money,” Williams screamed.

Naumenko was intermittently beaten and kicked for the next three hours, with Sexton threatening to break his hands and tell him he had a partner who would “burn” him.

Tied to a chair, Williams demanded that he transfer money, telling him he was lucky she didn’t kill his mother and children.

In a victim statement read out in court, Naumenko, then 36 and still living with his mother, claimed Williams’ friends left him with a deformed head.

“Since the night of the attack, my physical appearance has changed quite drastically,” he said.

“My face is no longer asymmetrical and I’ve spent hours and hours looking in the mirror at my uneven face over the past few years, trying to get a handle on my current look. ‘

Naumenko had considered himself a sort of ladies man at the time and claimed to have worked as a music producer with well-known Australian artists Thirsty Merc and Illy.

Naumenko had bragged online in 2010 that he was “quickly becoming one of Australia’s hottest talent management companies.”

A PR website stated: ‘Once associated with the wrong side of the law, Ryan Naumenko has done a complete backflip and is fast becoming one of the Australian music industry’s go-to guys when it comes to talent management’ .

Sexton’s attorney James McQuillan, QC, said Sexton was not complicit in the unwarranted demands made of Naumenko by his accomplices.

“In addition, there is no evidence that Mr Sexton has received any financial reward, or any promise of financial reward, as a result of his limited role in the overall violation,” he said.

Although Williams was initially charged with choking Naumenko with an electrical cord during the attack, she pleaded guilty to the assault for not participating in a physical assault on him after making a deal with the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kerri. Judd, QC.

Blackmail in Victoria carries a maximum jail term of 15 years, while the charge is five.

Williams had claimed she was too ill and too busy with maternal duties to do community work.

While Williams survived the infamous Melbourne gang war that killed 36 underworld figures, the now 52-year-old claims she still fears she and her family could be killed at any moment.

During her preliminary hearing in the magistracy court, Williams had been seen vomiting into a paper bag before bursting into rage, lifting a police station and smashing chairs.

Extraordinary video showing Williams berating police before destroying the interrogation room was released by prosecutors at the time.

For half an hour, Williams had bombarded the police with numerous conspiracy theories before sitting sick in a brown paper bag.

The video was shot in an interview room at the Melbourne West Police Station just weeks after Williams allegedly threatened to kill the television producer.