Bella Culley, British Teen Detained on Drug Trafficking Charges, Released on Plea Deal
Bella Culley, a 19-year-old British woman arrested in Tbilisi in May on drug trafficking charges, was released on November 3, under a plea agreement after reportedly admitting guilt and paying a fine.
Culley, who is eight months pregnant, was sentenced to five months and 24 days in prison, which she had already served, and was fined GEL 500,000 (USD 184,000).
The teen, who went missing in Thailand, was arrested on May 13 at Tbilisi International Airport after law enforcement officers reportedly found approximately 12 kilograms of marijuana and 2.07 kilograms of hashish in her luggage. She was charged with storing and selling an exceptionally large quantity of drugs, an offense punishable by 16 to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Gelashvili ruled that the five months and 24 days Culley spent at Rustavi Women’s Penitentiary No. 5 would be counted as time served. Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili said the prosecution had taken into account her “health condition,” “admission of guilt,” and “cooperation with the investigation” in proposing a reduced sentence. Additionally, Culley’s family has transferred USD 187,000 to the court to secure her early release. The court had reportedly initially considered reducing her sentence to two years.
During the previous court hearings, Culley claimed that she had been coerced by a criminal group through “violence and torture” into transporting a suitcase filled with drugs to Georgia.
“I didn’t want to commit this act – they forced me under violence and torture,” she told the court, according to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service. “I was only planning to travel. I’m a loving person, a university student training to become a nurse. I was only planning to travel, and bad things happened to me.”
Also Read:
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- 22/08/2025 – MIA: Over 1,400 Arrested in Two Months on Drug Charges
- 02/07/2025 – Georgian Dream Criminalizes Small Marijuana Possession
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