Fresh hope for Cassie
Judge rejects plea deal, suspects her innocence
COCAINE Cassie has possibly enjoyed a remarkable turn in fortune, after her dramatic first day in court saw a Bogota judge reject a six-year plea bargain between her legal team and prosecutors.
Instead of rubber-stamping what looked a great deal for Cassandra Sainsbury – possible freedom with good behaviour in three years, opposed to the 30-year maximum she faced – Senior Judge Sergio Leon ordered further investigations into her case and indicated she could be innocent.
Sainsbury, 22, was arrested on April 12 as she tried to leave Bogota International Airport with 5.9kg of cocaine packed in her green suitcase.
Her explanation for the narcotics has changed several times, from first being unaware they were disguised in packs of headphones, to yesterday saying she thought she was carrying paperwork until just before her flight, when she agreed to try to smuggle the cocaine in order to protect her family from a drug cartel threatening them.
Yesterday in court, she accepted responsibility for the drugs and a prosecutor with Colombia’s Attorney-General agreed to the 72-month sentence put forward by her lawyer Orlando Herran.
But when Judge Leon started directly questioning Sainsbury, he seemed shocked at her avowed innocence.
“I didn’t want to take a package with me. I was told my family and partner would be killed,” Sainsbury said.
Asked why she had accepted a guilty plea, Sainsbury and her lawyer explained they had no evidence to back up her claim.
Mr Herran described her as desperate from debts incurred at her failed gym in South Australia.
The prosecutor reacted angrily when Cassie claimed she was threatened, but Judge Leon said her claims warranted more investigation into her possible innocence.