Accused Australian cocaine trafficker, Cassie Sainsbury, has reached a plea deal with Colombian authorities to reduce her jail sentence, News Corp reports.
Lawyers of the 22-year-old South Australian woman have reportedly secured an agreement that will cut her sentence from the minimum 21 years and four months in prison to as low as three-and-a-half years. According to News Corp, a pre-agreement occurs when a person facing charges accepts the accusations made by prosecutors, in turn potentially reducing the original penalty.
Sainsbury was arrested at El Dorado International Airport on April 11 for illegally smuggling 5.8 kilograms of cocaine into Colombia.
The Australian reported a spokesperson for the Fiscalia (prosecution authorities) confirmed a final decision on the deal will be made public on Wednesday, Colombian local time.
The Adelaide-based personal trainer has spent more than three months in El Buen Pastor women's prison in Bogota after being caught with 18 packages of what she claimed were headphones for her wedding, in her luggage.
While the 22-year-old originally denied drug smuggling reports, claiming she was unknowingly set up by a man who provided the 'gifts' for her wedding, she later revealed she was forced to act as a drug mule after an international drug syndicate threatened to hurt her family.
Authorities initially raised suspicion Sainsbury was involved in a drug syndicate after investigating a plane ticket purchased for her by an unknown source.
Sainsbury's lawyer Orlando Herran told Nine's 60 Minutes she was struggling financially when she was approached by a drug syndicate who offered her cash, but began threatening her and her family when she became hesitant.
Despite her immediate family maintaining her innocence, Sainsbury's uncle, Neil Sainsbury told Channel Seven's Sunday Night he didn't believe her story. He also denied reports his niece worked for his cleaning company and was sent abroad for work-related trips.