killer facing a long stretch in jail, but

Carl Williams is still a popular man

on the social networking site

Facebook.

Yesterday morning, Williams had

970 friends on a site set up under his

name.

By 4pm yesterday, he had 1215,

with a queue of 1300 people waiting

to be approved.

He's been invited to dance parties

and raves, offered all kinds of gifts

and has hundreds of gushing compliments from Facebook friends.

Williams was sentenced in May 2007

to a minimum of 35 years' jail for the

murders of three Melbourne underworld

rivals, father and son Lewis

and Jason Moran and drug dealer

Mark Mallia.

The crime figure, who is portrayed

prominently in the hit TV series

Underbelly, was recently given leave

to appeal the length of his sentence.

Williams' profile photo on

Facebook features the smiling killer

holding his daughter Dhakota.

An entry in his ''About me'' section

of the site, claimed to have been written by his ex-wife Roberta, says:

''Obviously Carl cannot respond to

any messages left on the wall but

they will be printed out and taken to

him and are very much appreciated.

''Roberta will answer any of your

questions she can, otherwise Carl

will, once he receives the print-out.

Thank you to everyone for your

support, it is very much appreciated.

''Any nasty messages will be

deleted.'' The site goes on to say:

''Carl looks pretty silly in Underbelly,

don't you think? Of course he does,

they aren't allowed to let you like

him.

''Distorted perceptions of people

are what sells newspapers and TV

advertising time.''

Mrs Williams said she had nothing

to do with the site.

As Williams' ''favourite quote'', the

Facebook page quotes Frank Sinatra's

comments on the Australian

media: ''I say they're fags, pimps and

whores.'' His profile contains an

address (in jail) where people can

write to Williams, and details hopes

for his sentence to be reduced.

Comments from some of his

Facebook ''friends'' include: ''Carl,

hope all goes well with the appeal.''

People have also given Williams

''happy pills'', an option on

Facebook where users send virtual

items to friends.

Williams allegedly supplied party

drugs in Melbourne during the

height of his notoriety.

Williams has also apparently

joined 40 Facebook groups.

These include: ''People called Carl

Williams'' and ''Petition to release

Carl Williams from jail so he can

write Underbelly Series 2''.

Internet use is banned in Barwon

Prison, where Williams is serving his

sentence. AAP