Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Authorities in Georgia set pregnant British teen Bella Culley free Monday six months after she was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport and charged with smuggling 26 pounds of marijuana and more than four pounds of hashish in her luggage.
Culley, 19, who is from Billingham in the northeast of England, was allowed to walk free from court after prosecutors made a last-minute change to a plea deal and decided, taking into account her age and advanced pregnancy, she should be released.
As part of the plea bargain, Culley pleaded guilty to smuggling the drugs from Thailand via the United Arab Emirates, for which she could have been handed a prison sentence as long as 20 years.
Instead, her passport will be returned and she will be free to leave Georgia, according to her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia.
Related
