An Adelaide woman accused of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Colombia could have her case ruled on in 90 days if she admits to a level of complicity, her newly appointed Colombian-based lawyer has said.
Cassandra Sainsbury, 22, is being held at El Buen Pastor Women’s prison in Bogota after she was arrested on April 12 at the city’s international airport for carrying 18 different packages of cocaine.
Lawyer Orlando Herran said she received the pre-wrapped packages from a man who claimed they were headphones and packed them in her luggage at the last minute.
“She bought several headphones, supposedly to sell them in Australia and gain money,” he said.
If found guilty of drug trafficking, he said Ms Sainsbury could face a prison term of between eight and 20 years, depending on the level of her guilt and responsibility.
“But if we can get a deal with prosecutors, we could avoid drug trafficking charges and instead get complicity or something where she had a guilty act of not reviewing her luggage, and we could get a deal of a minimum of four years,” Mr Herran said.
He said that could mean the case would be ruled on in 90 days and could result in “conditional liberty”, such as parole, which would be completed in Colombia and possibly even Australia.
“She would have to present herself before authorities and [follow] rules of conduct and a series of controls. If we get this, we could ask that she return to Australia and keep this condition and finish her punishment with Australian authorities,” Mr Herran said.
He said it could also allow them to request house arrest.
“We have difficulty with that, because Cassandra doesn’t live here in Colombia and doesn’t have a home,” Mr Herran said.
“In that case, we would have to look for NGOs [non-government organisations] that could take on the responsibility of looking after Cassandra.”
Colombian drug authorities, however, have dismissed claims by Ms Sainsbury’s family that she is innocent.
Colonel Jorge Mendoza from the Colombian drug enforcement police department said it was an unsophisticated method of concealment and Ms Sainsbury would have known the narcotics were in her bags.
He was confident the seizure would lead to jail time and, depending on the quality of the drugs, she could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Sainsbury being held with other foreigners
Mr Herran said he was contacted by a mutual friend of the Sainsbury family who were “absolutely desperate” for a contact in Colombia.
He said Ms Sainsbury was “very traumatised” despite being in good health in prison and was with foreigners held under the same circumstances related to “narcotrafficking”.
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