Pregnant ‘drugs mule’ Bella Culley will seek a presidential pardon from the controversial former Man City flop who rules Georgia in a desperate last bid to avoid further jail time.
The Teesside teenager reached a plea bargain this morning which will see her handed a two-year sentence on Monday after her family paid an eye-watering £140,000 fine.
But in a final roll of the dice, her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia will appeal to the Black Sea country’s controversial head of state and former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili.
Kavelashvili – a former striker who scored just one Premier League goal for City – is a member of the ruling Georgian Dream Party which is increasingly authoritarian and pro-Russian.
He assumed the presidency after fiercely disputed parliamentary elections last year that critics say were orchestrated by Vladimir Putin.
Mr Salakaia said: ‘After the plea bargain is reached, we’ll seek a presidential pardon for her on the grounds of her pregnancy and other mitigating circumstances.
‘If the pardon is granted, she will leave the country immediately.’
Mr Salakaia said if that is refused there may be the possibility Bella is released under parole ‘based on her behaviour and circumstances’ including that she is pregnant.
Bella Culley will seek a presidential pardon from the controversial former Man City flop who rules Georgia in a desperate last bid to avoid further jail time
Her mother (pictured) and father previously came agonisingly close to the total £215,000 needed to secure her freedom
Bella’s father Niel Culley and his sister Kerrie Culley (Bella’s aunt) in Tbilisi following her arrest
But that is ‘entirely under the domain of the penitentiary system’ and repeated attempts to secure bail given the teenager is expected to give birth before Christmas have been denied.
Failing that, Mr Salakaia confirmed that Bella can raise her child in custody where she would be ‘given a separate, special room, that will be set up according to her needs.’
He said: ‘The conditions there satisfy the necessary standards. Had she already been a mother during the arrest, then the Georgian law dictates that she wouldn’t be incarcerated until the child is one year old, but that wasn’t the case.’
Bella has already served nearly six months after being found with £200,000 worth of cannabis in her luggage when she arrived in Tbilisi in May.
It means she faces a further 18 months behind bars unless Salakaia shows mercy.
He assumed the presidency after widely disputed parliamentary elections with footage of ballot box stuffing, voter fraud and violence at polling booths which prompted nationwide protests that continue to this day.
Despite pre-election polls suggesting a narrow victory for the opposition coalition, Georgian Dream was swept to power with nearly 54 per cent of the vote in October last year.
The party then directly elected Kavelashvili to take over the presidency two months later.
Kavelashvili – who peddles anti-Western conspiracy theories – made four Premier League appearances for Man City before they were relegated in 1996.
The Teesside teenager reached a plea bargain this morning which will see her handed a two-year sentence on Monday after her family paid an eye-watering £140,000 fine
He then scored just twice in 24 outings in the First Division which saw the club not renew his work permit and he was loaned out to Grasshoppers, a Swiss Super League outfit.
The 54-year-old was first elected to Georgian parliament for Georgian Dream in 2016 and has become increasingly anti-Western.
He has helped peddle the bizarre ‘Global War Party’ Georgian conspiracy theory that there is a secret international organisation prolonging the Ukraine War.
Bella’s fate now lies in his hands after her parents were given three weeks to find £215,000 to secure her freedom at the start of this month.
Mother Lyanne Kennedy, 44, a charity worker, and father Niel Culley, 49, an oil rig technician who lives in Vietnam, have no UK property but managed to come agonisingly close to the total.
But after Niel handed over 500,000 Georgian Lari (£140,000) today in a plea bargain she will be sentenced to two years by Judge Giorgi Gelashvili on Monday.
Bella claims she was forced to peddle the drugs from Thailand to Georgia, claiming she was burned with a hot iron and shown a beheading video by a Thai gang.
She then claims she flew to Tbilisi – thinking that was the name of a country – not knowing she had 14kg of illegal cargo hidden in her bags.
If this fails, Bella could raise her child in custody where she would be ‘given a separate, special room, that will be set up according to her needs,’ her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, said
It follows a huge surge in backpackers being targeted and groomed by British gangs who have flocked to Thailand.
The country recently legalised cannabis meaning there is a massive illicit trade in smuggling it to Britain for huge markups.
After the National Crime Agency shut down a scheme to post it to Britain they have reverted to grooming drug mules.
Sentencing is scheduled for 2pm local time next Monday.
