Shocking update on pregnant 'drug mule' Bella Culley as parents pay £140,000 to authorities
The pregnant teenager stuck behind bars in Georgia has received a shocking update after her parents paid an eye-watering fine.
Bella Culley was first reported missing back in May after she was travelling in Thailand and southeast Asia, before she bafflingly turned up nearly 4,000 miles away in Georgia.
To make matters worse, the 19-year-old was discovered with '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana’ in her bag ‘as well as 20 packages of hashish’, with the drugs thought to be worth around £200k.
Georgia is well-known for its strict stance when it comes to drugs and the teenager was told that she could face decades in jail, but there was another twist when she revealed that she had fallen pregnant while travelling in Asia.
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In recent weeks, with Culley's pregnancy advancing behind bars, the teenager was told that she could be released early if her parents were able to pay a significant fine.
While they came close to the reported £215k asking price for a plea bargain, they could only muster £140k, which means that Culley is likely to be given a two-year sentence by Judge Giorgi Gelashvili on Monday.
After pleading guilty, the teenager said: "Will I be able to take the baby with me if I go back to jail?"
Mr Gelashvili responded: "Nobody is going to take the baby away from you."
This means that Culley will be giving birth while still incarcerated.
Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili told Tbilisi City Court: "The plea bargain has been reached, our conditions have been met – two years of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Georgian Lari."
Mr Salakaia, defending, said: "I can confirm. All relevant parties have been informed as well. We would like to ask the judge to schedule one final hearing to pass the final verdict.
"She pleaded guilty, fully cooperated with the investigation, and the plea bargain has just been reached. So we would like to ask the judge to release her on bail, given her advanced pregnancy."
However, a doctor ruled her conditions behind bars as 'satisfactory' and the judge ruled that there were no legal grounds for changing her conditions.
While she still harbours hope of receiving a house arrest in the final weeks of her pregnancy, it she is unlikely to return home before 2027, although the time she has served since May will also be taken into account, meaning that she has around 18 months left to serve.
Culley is reportedly due to give birth before Christmas.
James Moorhouse