An Aussie grandmother will remain behind bars after she was found guilty of trying to smuggle 2kg of meth into Japan.
Donna Nelson, 58, was convicted by a panel of three judges and six members of the public in Chiba, east of Tokyo, on Wednesday.
The Perth grandmother has already served 430 days behind bars since she was arrested by customs officials at Narita Airport in January 2023 after meth was found concealed in her double-bottom suitcase.
Nelson was spotted hanging her head and sobbing as she was handed a six year sentence and a $10,400 fine.
The former Greens candidate has always maintained her innocence and claimed to be a victim of an online love scam with a supposed Nigerian fashion brand owner, who paid for her flights to Laos to pick up the suitcase and then travel to Tokyo.
But he failed to appear at their chosen meeting spot and Nelson was arrested on the spot.
She was later charged with breaching Japan’s strict stimulants control and customs laws.
Prosecutors acknowledged the scam but lobbied for the court to hand down a 10-year jail term and a $31,000 fine, arguing Nelson should have known better than to carry the suitcase.
Perth grandmother Donna Nelson (pictured) has been sentenced to six years imprisonment in Japan after being found guilty of smuggling meth into the country
The judges similarly accepted and sympathised with Nelson for committing the act as part of the scam, noting the sentence was lighter than others for the same offence.
A member of Nelson’s legal team said they were disappointed with the ‘unreasonable’ decision and vowed to continue fighting the charges.
‘We need to talk with Donna but we will fight until the end, until she gets freedom,’ lawyer Rie Nishida told reporters outside court.
‘She’s devastated but she’s a strong woman so we will discuss and prepare for the next fight.’
Nelson’s daughter Kristal Hilaire said that six years in a Japanese prison away from home and family was in no way a ‘lenient’ sentence.
The 58-year-old claims she was the victim of a love scam with a supposed Nigerian fashion brand owner who duped her into unknowingly taking the suitcase to Japan (pictured, Nelson)
Several other family members who had attended earlier court dates and saw Nelson for the first time since her arrest nearly two years ago have since returned home.
Nelson’s family have launched a GoFundMe to help ‘in our fight to free our Mum and bring her home, where she belongs’.
‘Our mum had no knowledge of this and we maintain that she is a victim of a crime and not a criminal,’ the fundraising page reads.
‘We cannot say any more about this case at this time as we consider preparing for an appeal, but we are devastated by this verdict and will not stop fighting for our mum.’
Daughters Kristal Hilaire (pictured centre), told the media outside court that the family are preparing to appeal the sentence and bring their mum back home to Perth
They are seeking $20,000 to help pay for travel to and from Japan to remain in contact with Nelson and ‘keep her spirits up as we fight to have her released’.
‘Family is everything to Mum, and she has been kept apart from us for too long,’ the GoFundMe reads.
Nelson was previously the Greens Party’s candidate for the Western Australian seat of Pearce in the 2022 federal election.
She was later appointed as a chair of a West Australian Aboriginal health service and seen as an important Indigenous leader for her local community.
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