Lifeline could save Cassie Sainsbury as she anxiously awaits fate in Colombian prison

CASSANDRA Sainsbury’s lawyer says he believes her story - but admits there’s a potentially fatal problem at the heart of it that could torpedo her chances.

CASSIE Sainsbury may be able to grasp a lifeline and reduce her sentence to just a few years as she awaits her fate after being found with almost six kilograms of cocaine in Colombia.

The 22-year-old from Adelaide was arrested at Bogota’s international airport carrying 5.8kg of the drug stuffed into 18 headphone boxes wrapped in black plastic.

Penalties for trafficking illegal drugs in the South American country are severe, and Ms Sainsbury could face more than 20 years behind bars in harsh conditions.

But she has a slim chance of securing a much shorter sentence, depending on the purity of the cocaine found in her possession.

Exclusive: Cassandra Sainsbury leaving her Bogota hotel with the bag now evidence in her cocaine trafficking case @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/cfdJm6G9MM

— Ashlee Mullany (@AshleeMullany) May 3, 2017

The haul could have a street value of up to $2 million, but it could be far less if it is cut with other, legal substances.

Her lawyer, who said she was “traumatised” in the notorious El Buen Pastor women’s prison and not eating, has said Ms Sainsbury’s sentence could be reduced to less than four years if she admits some level of culpability.

Orlando Herran told Adelaide radio station 5AA this morning the accused drug mule is facing a Catch-22, and is in a race against time to prove her innocence. He said Ms Sainsbury has not yet decided how she will plead.

“Cassandra says that a person she knew only by one name, and that name was Angelo or Tom, had offered to get her these headphones at a very cheap price and he came to the airport and put them in the bag,” said David Penberthy, translating an earlier interview with Mr Herran.

“I also believe her version of the events ... however it is here that we have a very grave problem.”

The problem, he said, is a lack of proof that Ms Sainsbury was tricked, or that the man even exists. Mr Herran said if Ms Sainsbury maintains her innocence and loses the case she faces 20 years in prison. But there are other options available to the judge.

Australian Cassandra Sainsbury, known as Cassie, may only face a few years in prison instead of 20 if the cocaine isn’t pure or if she pleads guilty. Picture: Instagram/cassieleigh_p_t

“It is possible to do a deal with the Colombian DA so that the DA takes into consideration that she is young, never done anything wrong before, that what she’s accused of doing is not in her nature,” Mr Penberthy translated. “If the DA shows a bit of mercy she could get a sentence as low as four years.”

The sentence could be reduced further if Ms Sainsbury agrees to undertake social work or studies while in prison.

Seven News has published CCTV images of Ms Sainsbury smiling as she checked out of her Bogota hotel and left with the suitcase that is now evidence in the case.

The 22-year-old was arrested on April 11 at El Dorado International Airport, the largest in Colombia, with the cocaine in the suitcase. She claims she was unaware of the contents of her luggage, and that a man had dropped off the packages at her $40-a-night hotel.

Her mother Lisa Evans told 3AW radio she had called the man who set her up after she was arrested, but he had hung up and destroyed the phone, and she had given his number to police. The story could put Ms Sainsbury in danger in the Colombian prison.

The 22-year-old with her fiance Scott Broadbridge. Picture: Facebook

Her lawyer told the ABC: “If we go for innocence and try to prove that, it will delay between a year and a year and a half. That process will make sure Cassandra is in prison and that’s difficult.

“If we reach a deal with the prosecutors office this could be resolved in 90 days. In this 90 days we would know what punishment she’ll face, if she will have conditional liberty or house arrest.”

“I would suggest we go for the shorter process and get a small punishment and learn the lesson not to trust strangers.”

Mr Harran said she was suffering and feels “very traumatised of course.”

“There is the culture shock because in the prison all the guards and the majority of people don’t speak English,” he said. “She cries a lot, almost all the time, because she feels powerless with this situation.”

Ms Sainsbury briefly owned a fitness business in Yorketown called Yorke’s Fitness, and reportedly left town owing tens of thousands in rent. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Colombian police arrested Ms Sainsbury carrying 18 boxes of headphones with drugs concealed inside before boarding a flight bound for London, then Hong Kong, then Australia — an unusual route. She said the headphones were gifts for her bridal party, and she had no idea what was inside.

Her flight was paid for by an unknown individual in Hong Kong, which alerted the US Drug Enforcement Administration and led to a sting.

Bogota airport’s narcotics chief, Commander Rodrigo Soler, told News Corp Australia Ms Sainsbury had already cleared security and checked her bag when she was stopped. “The alert said ‘check this person’ so we pulled her aside and we searched her luggage and we arrested her. We asked ‘is this your bag, did you pack this?’. She said ‘yes’.”

Colombia’s narcotics police have said they doubt Ms Sainsbury’s story she did not know the drugs were in the headphones, believing she may have been working as a drug mule.

The Australian Federal Police says it is not involved.

Mr Broadbridge, 23, leaving his home in Moana, South Australia, on Tuesday. Picture: Matt loxton

Now-deleted posts on Ms Sainsbury’s Instagram account showed she travelled on “all expenses paid work trips” around the world, and just days before she was picked up in Bogota, she posted on social media in the United States following recent updates on her travels to China, Canada and Vanuatu.

A series of cryptic Instagram posts in the lead-up to her ill-fated trip show Ms Sainsbury apparently counting down the days until a life-changing event. A January 10 post read: “50 days until I make the biggest move I’ve yet to do ... 50 days until everything changes.”

She added the following hashtags: #newbeginnings #newyearnewme #2k17 #dreamjob #bondiliving #life #change #love #50daysleft #goodthingsarecoming.

On January 24, another post read: “Moving interstate driving me cray cray! #save me! Not long before the big move now, super excited and can’t wait to leave so much baggage behind.”

Her father Stuart told Nine News he was distressed by comments from the public on Facebook and the ill-advised Fundrazr page sister Khala set up to help her.

“The fundraising page didn’t do her any good at all, did it?” he said. “To sit there and not respond is harder than watching it happen.

“I don’t believe she was a drug mule, she’s just my kid. Like, what parent thinks of their kid as a drug mule?

“I just want her to come home.”

Stuart Sainsbury, the father of the accused, admitted the fundraising page set up by family members ‘”didn’t do her any good”. Picture: Facebook

Khala and Ms Sainsbury’s mother Lisa Evans said she had left Australia on April 3 on a “working holiday” to promote her personal training business and had been duped by a Colombian man.

But fiance Scott Broadbridge, 23, told a different story, saying she had not been working as a personal trainer for six months and now “helped manage a commercial cleaning business with national and international clients”.

He also hit out at comments posted on the page that raised just $4000 that questioned Ms Sainsbury’s story. “If you don’t know Cassie, and the respectful, loving, caring person that she is, don’t be so negative,” Mr Broadbridge wrote. ”Unfortunately, it is very easy for tourists to get targeted.”

He told Nine News this afternoon that he would hold a press conference tomorrow.

Meanwhile, locals from South Australia’s Yorketown said Ms Sainsbury left the area suddenly after her personal training business failed, owing tens of thousands of dollars in rent.

Florist Lyn Gates told news.com.au Ms Sainsbury disappeared overnight from the area, taking gym equipment with her and with “rent owing on the premises”.

Ms Gates said Ms Sainsbury was known around the town as a “scallywag” and “naughty girl” who had also worked in the local Yorke Hotel as a barmaid.

A 12-month membership for the gym, which still lies empty except for a blackboard insider bearing inspirational messages, cost $795.

Ms Sainsbury with almost six kilograms of cocaine hidden in packages that was allegedly found in her luggage. Picture: Colombia National Police via AP

Locals told The Australian she owes tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent after closing her personal training business Yorke’s Fitness in 2015 after less than six months. Former indoor football teammates Taylor Wallace and Lauren­ Parker said she owed thousands to ex-boyfriend Luke Tape.

School friend Steph Bajcarz told Seven News Ms Sainsbury had “shut her business down and said she was changing careers”.

Channel Ten reporter Duncan McKenzie said from Bogota on Wednesday night she was “likely” to plead guilty.

“Instead of a 20-25 year prison sentence in that area, it’s looking likely she will probably serve six years in jail and if she can provide valuable information to authorities as to the people that handed her the drugs, that might be reduced to four,” he told The Project.

Ms Sainsbury is said to be “very upset” and wearing the same clothes she was arrested in since arriving in jail — dubbed the “village of the damned”.

“Since he’s been put in this cell she’s been crying for days and days on end,” he said.

A general view of El Buen Pastor prison in Bogota where Cassie Sainsbury is being held. Picture: Joe Parkin Daniels

Mr Harran said he had told police Ms Sainsbury is not a resident of Colombia and they are looking for charities or non-governmental organisations that might be able to help her if she is forced to stay.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said the case is a “stark reminder” that travellers are subject to the laws of the country they are visiting.

“In the case of Colombia, the Australian Government’s Smart Traveller advice has indicated that Australian visitors should exercise a high degree of caution, abide by the laws of the country and note that any offences relating to drugs carry very severe penalties,” Ms Bishop said.

Ms Sainsubry could appear within court within a few weeks but it may be months before a decision on her case is reached.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has visited Ms Sainsbury inside Bogota’s El Buen Pastor prison and provided her with names of lawyers.

“Our diplomats are there to assist her in any way we can but I must stress there are limitations to what we can do once she’s subject to the laws of another country,” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday.

It would “not be helpful” for her to speculate on emerging details of the arrest, Ms Bishop said.

“But it is a stark reminder that when you leave Australia you are subject to the laws of the country that you’re visiting,” she said. “We have announced that we will have an embassy in Bogota and we don’t yet have one so we are providing assistance from outside Colombia.”