Cassie to accept plea deal
CASSIE Sainsbury has struck a plea deal with Colombian prosecutors over her attempt to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine out of Bogota, in an agreement to be aired at her first court appearance today.
The former South Australian fitness instructor will serve a maximum seven years in El Buen Pastor prison if the judge agrees to the terms.
With good behaviour, the 22-year-old could be out of jail in three years.
Authorities in Bogota yesterday confirmed the deal struck between Sainsbury’s lawyer, Orlando Herran, and prosecutors.
Sainsbury had kept authorities waiting until a day before her first court appearance before agreeing to the deal.
She was arrested at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport on April 12 with 5.8kg of cocaine packed among headphones, wrapped in black plastic, in her luggage.
She was flying to Australia via London on a last minute ticket and was detained after the US Drug Enforcement Administration warned narcotics officers at the airport she may have been carrying drugs.
She first told authorities she had no knowledge of the drugs, saying she had bought the headphones at a good price to give as gifts at her upcoming February wedding.
Later, she claimed she had agreed to work as a money launderer after criminals threatened her family in South Australia.