THE Scottish woman imprisoned in Peru after being caught with more than £1.5 million worth of cocaine is to plead guilty to her part in the drugs plot in the hope she can see out part of her sentence at home.
Melissa Reid, 20, could walk free from prison in South America in less than three years following a plea bargain with prosecutors.
The former sales worker from Lenzie is due to plead guilty to drug trafficking in return for a sentence of six years and eight months.
Crucially, this opens up the possibility Ms Reid can apply to complete the end of her prison term in Scotland. She had previously been looking at jail terms of between 15 and 25 years after being caught at Lima Airport with her co-accused Michaella McCollom.
Both had been working in Ibiza when they travelled to Peru and collected the drugs.
Ms Reid, who is currently being held in the Virgen de Fatima jail in Lima with her co-accused, said: "I am really scared about what I am about to do, but I am also relieved that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.
"I am now coming to terms with the fact I am so far away from my family. I know I'm not in a bad dream. This is real.
"After a lot of thought and advice from my lawyer, I am going to go in front of the judge and admit I was in possession of the drugs and I went to Peru to pick up drugs to take back to Spain - I am willing to plead guilty to that."
Ms Reid maintains that she couriered the drugs under duress but, under the deal, she will drop her original claim that she was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to take the drugs.
She said it was "too risky" to rely on the authorities to attempt to track down those responsible for orchestrating the drugs deal.
Prosecutors have also agreed to drop their claims that Ms Reid was being paid to carry the cocaine.
Ms Reid added: "I am aware that I will have a drugs conviction, which could cause me many problems and stop me from doing things, but I am trying not to focus on that.
"I am taking things a day at a time. Pleading guilty is going to enable me to get back to my family in Scotland sooner rather than later. The most important thing to me is to get my life back. I do not want to be in jail until I'm 35 - I can't get those years back."
Ms Reid is due to admit her guilt at a hearing on September 24 and it is expected she will also be fined in the region of £5000.
Ms Reid has released excerpts from her prison diary, in which she describes a daily routine of cleaning and serving up food to her fellow inmates in an environment she described as a "regimental Brownie camp" with barbed wire, cameras and security guards.
One entry described how the two women "still care about their appearance", with Ms McCollom spending five hours getting her hair extensions removed and dying her hair brown.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Ms McCollom will also plead guilty.
Ms Reid's father, William, 53, said of the plea bargain: "We are considering this as good a result as we could have hoped for. It gives us a bit of closure.
"It allows Melissa to tell her story she already gave to the police, albeit without the kidnapping part of it. Melissa accepts she was in possession of the drugs - that was always undeniable. She also accepts she went to Peru to pick up drugs to be taken to Spain.
"It seems strange to be happy about the prospect of your 20-year-old daughter being sentenced to six years and eight months in jail, but we are delighted.
"Crucially, with this sentence we could start pushing for her to be transferred to Scotland."
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