The family of a pregnant British teenager, arrested in Georgia earlier this year on drug smuggling charges, have paid £138,000 in a bid to dramatically reduce her sentence.
Bella Culley, 19, of Billingham, County Durham, went missing in Thailand before flying to Georgia’s capital Tbilisi in May, where she was arrested at the airport on arrival.
Georgian prosecutors say she was trying to smuggle 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish in her luggage.
The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges after her arrest, saying she was tortured in Thailand and forced to carry the drugs.
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If convicted, she faced up to 15 years, or life imprisonment, but a plea bargain intended to reduce the sentence to just two years is currently being finalised, her lawyer Malkhaz Salakhaia told reporters.
Salakhaia did not rule out that Culley could be pardoned by the president if she is convicted.
The verdict will be announced on Monday.
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“Reaching an agreement with the prosecutor’s office is in its final stage. All the conditions under which a plea agreement will be concluded regarding the charges against Bella May Culley are known to my client and her family members,” Salakhaia said.
“Only the technical issues remain to be finalised, for which we need several more days.”
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Culley has been held at a women’s prison in Rustavi, a city just outside Tbilisi.
Her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told reporters outside the Tbilisi court on Tuesday that the family had paid 500,000 Georgian Lari – about £138,000.
She added they were waiting for the funds to be credited to the relevant government account.
Ms Kennedy also spoke about the health of her daughter. “She’s looking big, pregnant, but she looks strong,” she said.
Culley initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July to possession and trafficking illegal drugs.
She said she was a “clean person” and did not do drugs.
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