Peru drug mule suspect Michaella McCollum Connolly 'to plead guilty'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/24/peru-drug-mule-suspect-michaella-mccollum-connolly

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An alleged drug mule from Northern Ireland is expected to plead guilty in a Peruvian court.

Michaella McCollum Connolly is likely on Tuesday to admit her part in a cocaine smuggling plot in order to obtain a more lenient sentence.

The Dungannon-born woman is following the same strategy as Melissa Reid, her co-accused from Glasgow, who pleaded guilty earlier this month as part of plea bargaining.

The pair originally claimed they were forced to smuggle 5kg of cocaine each from Peru back to Spain by a criminal gang. McCollum Connolly even claimed that the gangsters told her they would travel to Northern Ireland and harm her family if she did not co-operate.

They were detained at Lima international airport last month and have since been incarcerated at the Virgen de Fatima women's prison in the Peruvian capital.

"I understand that the [judicial] process will be simpler if we both plead guilty," the County Tyrone student told the Irish Independent.

"We are hoping that we will not have to wait too long before we are sentenced and pleading guilty will speed things up," she added.

Back in Northern Ireland, lawyers and the McCollum Connolly family set up a legal fighting fund to support the 20-year-old in Peru. However, the account was closed after receiving next to no support from the public.

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