A woman faces up to 60 years behind bars after being caught with two suitcases of cocaine while trying to fly back to the UK from Mexico.
Kim Hall had enjoyed her break in North America, after traveling to Cancun and soaking up the sun.
However, it all went wrong for the mother after she agreed to help the two British men she was out there with bring home two of their suitcases.
She initially believed that the bags were filled to the brim with cash, but was shocked to find that it was instead full of drugs, and she now faces hard time.
Advert
The Yorkshire woman explained to The Sun that she was offered a free holiday by the two men when she met them in a previous trip to Portugal, as they explained that they had some real estate in central America.
But at the end of the week-long holiday, they asked her to bring two suitcases back with her, which they said had $250,000 (£195,000) of cash in them.
She claimed that they 'held a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me', and insisted later that she was not a drug trafficker ahead of a court hearing today (12 November).
Explaining her thinking, she said: “I agreed to it because there was no reason not to.
Advert
"It was just money and I didn’t see anything wrong in it, I had no suspicion that this was about drugs.”
After a mix-up with flights, the men started threatening her as they thought she was dodging the favour, as she recalled: “One of them dragged me off the bed by my hair and held a handgun to my head.
“He said, ‘I’ll f***ing shoot you.’ It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced.”
They had taken her phone and passport off her, but after returning it, she got on a flight to the US.
Hall was then stopped by Homeland Security officials at Chicago O'Hare when she was catching a connecting flight on her way home. She was questioned over why she had two bags with her.
Advert
They then discovered the drugs when they opened up one of the cases, as she described: “It looked like papier mache and was covered in some type of oil. My next thought was, is that cheese?
“They started to tear the cases apart and handcuffed me and took me into a room.
“I knew by then I had been set up. I was in shock.
“It was such a bizarre feeling, like I was watching someone else in a film," she explained.
Advert
Collapsing into tears and having a panic attack, she called her parents before being told she would be deported and thrown into the slammer.
Turning down a lawyer as she 'was telling the truth so I don’t need one', she was kept in Cook County Jail, where the likes of John Wayne Gacy and Al Capone have been inmates in the past.
Hall was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and intent to deliver it, with the amount she was found with classified as a Class X Felony, the top bracket of sentencing, meaning she faces 15 to 60 years in prison.
She is expected to appear in the Chicago criminal courthouse today. A trial date isexpected to be set.
The Brit is on house arrest and is allowed out two days a week, albeit with two electronic tags.
Advert
Hall was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with her psychiatrist suggesting that she was in a manic episode when she agreed to take the suitcases.
“You definitely have impaired thinking because of it and don’t really see the consequences of something bad about to happen", the Brit explained.
“There’s no way that I would knowingly transport drugs in any way, shape or form.”
Hall's father, John, was there with her and criticised the government for not helping, as he said: “We phoned and I eventually got put through to a support team but they said they’re not allowed to get involved in criminal investigations.
“I said, ‘She desperately needs help.’ I explained all this to them and all they did was give me a list of charities to contact.
“Nobody helped. I’m disgusted with the British Government.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson responded to the family's claims, stating to LADbible: “We are supporting a British woman on bail in the US and are in touch with the local authorities.”
Joshua Nair