Judge in Bogotá accepts plea deal between prosecutors and 22-year-old Australian, which could see her walk free in as little as three yearsThe Australian woman Cassie Sainsbury has been sentenced to six years behind bars in Colombia after a judge approved a plea deal. The 22-year-old, from Adelaide, was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine hidden in her luggage as she tried to leave the country in April. Sainsbury was facing more than 20 years in prison, but a plea deal – and a fine of US$90,000 (A$117,000) – enabled the sentence to be reduced. A previous attempt at a plea bargain with prosecutors was suspended in July by a judge after Sainsbury told the court she feared her family would be killed if she refused to smuggle cocaine for a drug ring. Sainsbury didn’t make any comment to a large media contingent waiting outside the court as she left by bus to return to prison.

Source: The Guardian November 01, 2017 19:45 UTC