Shanda Nichols, who was accused of trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country in her private parts, was sentenced to three years in jail yesterday after admitting to the crime.
Nichols was also fined over $1M after she changed her plea to guilty.
Nichols was charged last month with possession of narcotics for trafficking after she was held with 416 grammes of cocaine on September 4th, at the Ogle International Airport. She had pleaded not guilty and was remanded to prison.
When she appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally yesterday at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, where the case was scheduled for a report and fixture, the unrepresented Nichols indicated she wanted to change her plea to guilty.
According to the case against the woman, she was an outgoing passenger at the airport on a LIAT flight destined for Barbados. However, the cocaine was found when Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officers conducted a random search on passengers and Nichols was selected. The court heard that the cocaine was discovered hidden in Nichols’ vagina and in Booty Pop padded panties that she was wearing at the time.
After the woman’s admission of guilt, Magistrate Ally sentenced her to three years in jail and also imposed a fine of $1,123,200.
