Baby from behind bars: Rocco Arico's bid to avoid deportation
Underworld boss Rocco Arico has fathered a child while inside prison as part of a plan to avoid deportation to Italy after he serves a minimum nine-year sentence for drug trafficking, extortion and weapons offences.
Arico's wife recently fell pregnant through a fertility treatment that was prepared for before he was sent to a high security prison unit in November 2016.
The foreign-born gangland figure lost a last-ditch bid this year to have his convictions overturned by Victoria's Court of Appeal and the High Court, making his expulsion from Australia a near-certainty.
Under immigration law, non-citizens sentenced to more than 12 months' jail have their visas cancelled. However, the decision can be appealed to immigration authorities and challenged in the courts.
Sources say Arico is planning to argue to stay in the country under a provision that considers the “best interests of minor children” when assessing whether to reverse a decision to deport non-citizen criminals.
Arico and his wife, an Australian citizen, already have a five-year-old child, who is also an Australian citizen.
“Rocco is desperate to stay here and he thinks this will help his chances -- that he’s got a young family,” a source said.
News of the plan has leaked from inside prison, where the communication Arico and fellow high-security inmates have with the outside world is closely monitored by authorities.
The fertility procedure was the couple's only option to have another child once Arico was jailed in 2016 because high-security inmates are not allowed 'contact' visits.
Arico, who is linked to the Calabrian organised crime gang the 'Ndrangheta (Honoured Society), will be eligible for parole in 2025, but could remain in prison until 2028 if he serves his full sentence.
But the 40-year-old faces an uphill battle to remain in the country given he is considered one of the most significant organised crimes figures in the state, has serious prior convictions, and is suspected of involvement in at least two murders.
The Department of Home Affairs is unable to discuss the Arico case due to privacy restrictions.
“Any best interest of the child considerations are weighed carefully against the seriousness of the non-citizen's criminal offending or other adverse conduct in deciding whether or not the non-citizen’s visa should be refused, cancelled or reinstated,” a Home Affairs spokesperson said.
“The Australian government takes seriously its responsibility to protect the Australian community from the risk of harm posed by non-citizens who engage in criminal conduct or behaviour of concern.”
Arico’s lawyer, Anthony Condello, could not be reached for comment.
Arico has earned a reputation among law enforcement and the underworld as a forward-thinker and strategic plotter, albeit one whose fall ultimately came about as a result of trouble controlling his temper.
Born in Italy, Arico was brought to Australia as an infant but never obtained citizenship here.
Arico got his start as a low-level criminal associate of drug kingpin Carl Williams, a period marked by heavy drug use, poor impulse control and a propensity for extreme violence. He ended up sitting out most of Melbourne’s underworld war because he was in prison from 2000 to 2008 for kidnapping and attempted murder, the second conviction stemming from a so-called 'road rage' incident.
Inside prison, Arico underwent a major transformation. He spent his time building a network of criminal contacts that helped him emerge as a major methamphetamine and cocaine trafficker after his release into the vacuum created by the jailing or murder of many players during the underworld war.
Funnelling his illicit cash into property development, Arico bought, built or sold a portfolio conservatively estimated to be worth more than $25 million. Police are currently trying to seize at least $15 million worth of assets linked to Arico and his family that are suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
The complex web of property and financial transactions Arico used to launder his money involved cultivating loan officers inside the big banks, particularly the Commonwealth Bank, who helped underwrite the deals with legitimate funding and, in some cases, falsified paperwork.
Arico kept a low public profile and successfully evaded police investigators for years by being cautious about who he trusted, conducting business only in person and maintaining discipline through fear over his Brunswick-based crew and across the wider underworld.
In June 2012, Arico got married in a lavish celebration involving more than 700 guests. A who’s who of the underworld lined up to literally kiss his hand at the reception.
Arico later began building their dream home, a luxury property police nicknamed the “ice castle”.
But his infamous temper caused his downfall following a botched drug deal between one of his associates and former Bandidos bikie Toby Mitchell.
Arico lost a kilogram of cocaine worth $350,000 after Mitchell duped his associate, Con Mattas*, by leaving a box of magazines instead of cash at the exchange.
Concerned about his reputation, Arico ordered his associate to kill Mitchell or pay for the drugs himself. When Mattas was late making payments, Arico orchestrated a campaign of intimidation that included fire-bombings and shooting threats that pushed Mattas to turn police informer (and later the star prosecution witness at his trial).
In a fit of anger at the delay, Arico broke his own rule about talking on the phone and threatened Mattas during a call intercepted by police. Mattas also wore a covert recording device to a meeting that caught Arico talking about the extortion attempt and an offer to sell him methamphetamine.
After he was charged in February 2015, Arico was warned that a conviction would mean deportation. He attempted to apply for citizenship but was denied.
Arico was convicted of extortion, drug trafficking and weapon offences in two trials in 2016 and 2017. Attempts to have his convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal and High Court failed in 2018.
* Real name suppressed for legal reasons