Plenty carpenter Xavier Paciocco jailed for Coolaroo extortion and MDMA, GHB drug racket

A Plenty chippy and his gun-toting thug mate attempted to a extort a now deceased Coolaroo dad and his family for $20,000.

Xavier Paciocco pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated home invasion, extortion with threat to kill and drug offences. Facebook.

An apprentice Plenty carpenter who threatened to kill a dad and his family during a terrifying extortion has been jailed.

Xavier Paciocco, 22, was sentenced in the County Court on Friday to a minimum two years’ jail after pleading guilty to attempted aggravated home invasion, extortion with threat to kill and trafficking MDMA.

Paciocco, his co-offender Elijah Coffey, who was armed with a gun, and a third person attempted to storm the Longford Crescent home of their victims on March 4 last year.

The thugs called their victims and threatened to kill the family if they weren’t paid $20,000, the court was told.

“You bring any coppers we’ll come back to the house,” the thugs said.

A detective, who was placed on the house following the phone call and attempted home invasion, spotted a vehicle drive past the home early on March 5.

Paciocco, who also pleaded guilty to trafficking 1,4 butanediol and possessing a pill press, was arrested at his Plenty home on March 12.

Police seized 232g of MDMA, 862g of GHB, $1585, cannabis, more than 100 Xanax tablets and a pill press.

The court heard the dad later died.

His widow, in her victim impact statement, said she felt “confused, anger and hopelessness” since the ordeal.

The victim said she now felt unsafe in her home since the unrelated death of her husband.

The court was told Paciocco was a hardworking apprentice carpenter whose job will “be held as long as a possible”.

Paciocco, who has a “supportive and loving” family, told a psychologist he experienced “embarrassment and guilt” and said what happened was “so out of character”.

Paciocco said he was “hanging around with the wrong people” and “trying to look cool”.

“Since I was young as I always saw myself as a criminal,” Paciocco said.

“I’ve always liked organised crime, selling drugs, making money, now I’ve been caught, I thought I was smart, I had a job I was doing well, I was making money on crime on the side … It’s like now I can’t be a gangster, I think I wanted that kind of image as a confidence boost.”

Judge Gavan Meredith jailed Paciocco for a maximum four years.

Coffey was last October jailed for a maximum five years and four months with a minimum of two years and 10 months.

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