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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Victorian prosecutors withdrew the blackmail charge against Joel Leavitt on 1 October 2026, so the allegation did not go to trial and produced no verdict. Leavitt pleaded guilty that day to two separate offences: failing to give police his phone PIN and engaging in debt collection while prohibited from doing so. Magistrate Donna Bakos convicted him and imposed a $2,000 fine, according to ABC News.
What the withdrawn charge alleged
ABC News reported that Leavitt had been charged over an alleged $663,000 blackmail demand involving a business owner. Prosecutors said at a hearing that Leavitt and several other men went to Cedar Meats in Brooklyn to meet its chief executive, Jason Hopp, about a debt linked to a land development project and an earthmoving business. A meeting was recorded, and ABC reported that Leavitt questioned why the other party had not been paid.
The reported amount and account of the meeting describe the allegation; neither became a finding of guilt on the blackmail charge. Its withdrawal ended that prosecution without a trial verdict.
What the reported recording captured
A syndicated copy of a newspaper report attributed to Brisbane Times, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald said detectives obtained a covert recording. In that account, Leavitt told the alleged victim he could be “very convincing when he needed to be”. After the man reportedly said he owed no debt, Leavitt was reported to have said, “Someone has to pay.” The original audio and a transcript were not independently reviewed, so these words should be understood as reported descriptions of the recording, not independently verified quotations from it.
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Why prosecutors reportedly withdrew the blackmail charge
The syndicated report attributed the withdrawal to legal concerns about whether the alleged conduct could unequivocally amount to blackmail. It said the issue included whether the reported words and visits with patched bikie members could establish the required “menacing behaviour”. That explanation was attributed to unnamed legal sources; it was not presented as a written explanation from Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions or as a court’s ruling on the legal test.
ABC reported that blackmail carried a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. That is the maximum penalty cited in the report, not a sentence Leavitt received. The blackmail allegation was withdrawn, and the reporting available here does not establish a judicial interpretation of how the law applies to these facts.
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What each side said about the encounter
The court heard sharply different characterisations of the meeting. Prosecutor Natasa Stevic described the alleged victim as “terrified” and said he moved his family into a hotel. Defence barrister Christopher Terry said Leavitt had not been threatening or violent during the interaction and described him as “polite and reasonable”. These were opposing submissions reported by ABC, not findings about the withdrawn blackmail allegation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Leavitt admitted and the court decided
On 1 October 2026, Leavitt pleaded guilty to failing to provide police his phone PIN and engaging in debt collection despite being prohibited from doing so because of a 2023 assault conviction. Magistrate Donna Bakos convicted him on those offences and fined him $2,000. Those guilty pleas and the resulting convictions are distinct from the blackmail charge, which prosecutors withdrew.
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