**Title: Tony Mokbel's Drug Convictions Partially Overturned by Court**

Tony Mokbel, a prominent figure in the underworld, received a mixed ruling from the Victorian Court of Appeal regarding his drug convictions. The decision was announced by a panel of three judges on Friday morning. Mokbel, 60, was present in court as Justices Stephen McLeish, Maree Kennedy, and Stephen Kaye delivered their verdict.

Mokbel sought to overturn convictions related to drug trafficking and importation across three cases known as Orbital, Magnum, and Quills. The court granted his appeal for the Quills case, resulting in the charges being dismissed and Mokbel being acquitted. However, he will face a retrial concerning the Orbital charges. His appeal for the Magnum case was denied.

Mokbel's legal team argued that he experienced a significant miscarriage of justice due to the actions of Nicola Gobbo, a barrister who later became an informer for Victoria Police. Gobbo was registered as an informer from 2005 to 2009 and had represented Mokbel for four years before he fled to Greece in 2006. After his extradition back to Melbourne in 2008, she continued to provide him with legal advice.

Tim Game SC, Mokbel's barrister, contended that the evidence against his client was compromised because Gobbo encouraged her clients to make statements that implicated him. In response, prosecutor David Glynn stated that Gobbo was not acting as Mokbel's legal representative at the time of his plea. He acknowledged that while the cases against Mokbel were weakened, they remained valid.

Glynn also suggested that a retrial should occur if Mokbel's appeal was successful. However, Game argued against this, noting that Mokbel had already served a significant portion of his sentence. Mokbel has spent 18 years in prison and was released on bail in April.