One of Melbourne’s most notorious conwomen has sensationally dropped her appeal after a judge warned if she kept fighting for an early release she could be hit with even more jail time.
Samantha Azzopardi, 35, was sentenced to two years imprisonment in October after pleading guilty to pretending to be a sex-trafficked teenager from Belgium to exploit domestic support services in Melbourne out of more than $18,000 in 2023.
Her lawyer told the County Court today the sentence was too excessive, adding that Azzopardi has trouble knowing right from wrong due to childhood trauma.
Judge Fran Dalziel said it was hard to believe anything she had said.
She warned if she continued her appeal, a “more severe sentence could be passed”.
Azzopardi decided to drop her appeal mid-hearing and will remain behind bars until her release date in October.
The court also heard from the victims.
One staff member said: “The critical impact of this abhorrent manipulation is in so many ways immeasurable for the victim-survivors denied support during this period.”
Azzopardi has a history of creating personas and has been charged more than 100 times in Australia mainly for fraud and deception-related offences.
Some of her aliases included a Hollywood film worker, a Norwegian backpacker, an abused French girl and a Long Island artist.
Her acts inspired a documentary in 2023 titled Con Girl.
