Disgraced former mayor Paul Pisasale’s bid for freedom rejected

Jailed former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale has lost a bid to have his extortion conviction overturned.

Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale. Picture: AAP

Jailed former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale has lost a bid to have his extortion conviction overturned.

The disgraced politician was in 2019 jailed for two years for ­attempting to extort money from the former lover of a Chinese ­escort he had befriended.

Pisasale’s co-accused in the extortion plot, solicitor Cameron McKenzie and Chinese escort Yutian Li, also appealed against their convictions.

The Court of Appeal in Brisbane on Tuesday found that legal teams for the three had failed on all grounds in their arguments to have the convictions thrown out.

Dubbed Mr Ipswich because of his popularity in the city west of Brisbane, Pisasale held the mayoralty from the early 2000s until he ­resigned amid a probe by the corruption watchdog.

The extortion plot was uncovered by Crime and Corruption Commission detectives who had bugged Pisasale’s phone as part of an unrelated corruption investigation.

Li was jailed for 15 months, suspended after seven months, while McKenzie was sentenced to 18 months, suspended after nine months.