TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — British teenager Bella May Culley, arrested in Georgia on drug trafficking charges earlier this year, could receive a two-year prison sentence after her family paid more than $180,000 in a plea deal, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Culley, 19, who is pregnant, was arrested in May at Tbilisi airport and accused of trying to smuggle 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish into the country. If convicted, she faced up to 15 years to life in prison, but a plea deal aimed at reducing her sentence is currently being finalized, her lawyer Malkhaz Salakhaia told reporters.
“Reaching a plea deal is in its final stages. All the conditions under which a plea agreement on the charges against Bella May Culley will be concluded are known to my client, Bella May Culley, and members of her family. Only the technical issues remain to be finalized, for which we need several more days,” Salakhaia said.
Salakhaia told The Associated Press that a two-year prison sentence for the teen is being discussed as part of a plea deal, but the final verdict will be announced Monday.
He did not rule out that Culley could be pardoned by the president if she is found guilty.
Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told reporters that the family has paid 500,000 lari (approximately $184,000) as part of the plea deal.
In Georgia, a nation of 3.7 million people in the South Caucasus, the law allows for financial plea deals that can be reached to reduce or eliminate a prison sentence in certain cases. Such plea deals are typically reached in drug-related cases.
Culley, originally from Teesside in northeast England, was reported missing in Thailand before her arrest at Tbilisi airport on May 10. The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges after her arrest, saying she was tortured in Thailand and forced to transport the drugs.
Salakhaia has told reporters that he showed visible physical signs of torture upon his arrival in Georgia.
It was not immediately clear if he changed his plea as part of the plea deal.