Australian Cassandra Sainsbury attends a court hearing in Bogota, Colombia.Photo / News Corp Australia
Australian Cassandra Sainsbury attends a court hearing in Bogota, Colombia.Photo / News Corp Australia
Australian drug smuggler "Cocaine Cassie" Sainsbury has been released from a Colombian prison.
The former personal trainer from Adelaide, who was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her luggage in 2017, was released on parole from El Buen Pastor women's prison in Bogota.
Australian Cassandra Sainsbury attends a court hearing in Bogota, Colombia.Photo / News Corp Australia
She was among 4000 prisoners released afterColombian President Ivan Duque signed a decree due to concerns of overcrowding in prisons amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Three years ago, the then 22-year-old was found to have the cocaine hidden inside boxes of headphones as she tried to leave the country.
Looking as if she has lost weight and speaking with a slight accent, Sainsbury said she "wouldn't change" the experience of being locked up because it had made her "stronger person".
"I can say that I grew as a person, I grew up a lot, I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about people, I've learned how to analyse people better," she told 60 Minutes in an exclusive interview to be aired on Sunday.
"It's been definitely a massive learning curve but, at the same time, everything that I've been through in prison, everything that I learnt I wouldn't change it because it's made me a stronger person it's made me who I am today."
Cassie Sainsbury was detained at Bogota Airport for allegedly carrying 5.8kg of cocaine inside headphones in her luggage. Photo / Channel 9
Sainsbury will have to stay in Colombia for another 27 months as part of her parole conditions.
Originally facing more than 20 years locked up in Colombia, she later negotiated a six-year sentence with a plea deal.
Last year, Sainsbury revealed she was planning to marry her Venezuelan girlfriend Joli, 29, who she met in the prison and who proposed to her.
Cassie faced up to 20 years in El Buen Pastor prison but has walked free after just three years. Photo / News Corp Australia
"She stole my heart. We are very happy together and if time allows us, we will be with each other for many years," Sainsbury told New Idea in 2019.
At the time of her arrest, she was engaged to 25-year-old Australian Scott Broadbridge, but they split in 2018.
