A BRITISH woman who was facing 60 years in prison in America after she was caught with £15m of cocaine could be home in 12 months.
Kim Hall, 29, was stopped at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with 43kg of the Class A drugs packed into two suitcases.
She was charged with possession with intent to supply and was facing a lengthy sentence.
But The Sun understands that a plea deal means she will serve a fraction of the maximum term she faced.
Hall appeared in court in Chicago today and was set to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence of between four and six years.
She is expected to serve half and the year she has spent on remand will also be taken into account.
That means she will be home in one to two years.
The hearing today was adjourned as both sides continue to thrash out the deal with her final sentence now expected to take place next month.
The prosecution is anticipated to consent to a reduced sentence after acknowledging that she was coerced into transporting the suitcases—believed to contain $250,000—into the UK from a vacation in Mexico by two British men.
Her family were overjoyed at the prospect of a hugely reduced sentence.
Scaffolder dad John, 60, said: “We are over the moon. It’s better news than we could ever have hoped for.
“When we first heard talk of a plea deal we didn’t dare to hope.
“I couldn’t get the figure of 60 years out of my head and feared the worst.
“But instead of the worst case scenario we are now looking at just about the best we could have hoped for.
“Kimberley has suffered terribly through this ordeal through no fault of her own, we all have.
“It’s been a long, hard struggle financially and emotionally but we always had faith in her and always supported her.
“She is not a criminal and never has been. She is just a naive young woman whose decision making was affected by her bipolar condition.
“Thankfully the courts recognised all of that and it means we will be getting her home much sooner than we have always feared.”
Beautician Hall, of Middlesbrough, was offered a free holiday to Cancun by two British men she had met on a previous break in Portugal.
Towards the end of her week-long trip the men asked her to take two suitcases home with her, which they told her were full of cash.
She told The Sun in an exclusive interview as she awaited trial how the men threatened her and held a gun to her head.
She said: “I agreed to it because there was no reason not to. It was just money and I didn’t see anything wrong in it.
“I had no suspicion at all that this was about drugs.
“But there was a mix up over flights and the two guys started to threaten me.
“They were annoyed because they thought I was trying to avoid taking the suitcases.
“One of them dragged me off the bed by my hair and held a handgun to my head.
“He said: ‘I’ll f*cking shoot you.’ It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
Upon her arrival at Chicago’s O’Hare airport on August 18 last year, while connecting to London, Homeland Security conducted a random search and discovered the cocaine.
She said: “I was in shock, completely numb, like I was watching someone else in a film.”
She was detained in Cook County Jail, a facility that has housed notorious figures such as Al Capone and serial killer John Wayne Gacy, and faced charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and intent to distribute.
Once the prosecution and defense finalize an agreement, it is likely that the judge at Cook County Court will approve a reduced sentence, recognizing her coercion in carrying the bags, her lack of intention to bring drugs into the U.S., and her bi-polar disorder diagnosed while in custody.
Her attorney, Brandon Carter, stated following today’s hearing, “Kim has no criminal history. She was simply misled by the wrong individuals who exploited her.”
“She will not return to a life of crime if she gets a favourable sentence.
“We are hoping that this mitigation will help the state give us a favourable resolution.”
