Melina Roberge, the 24-year-old Canadian who plead guilty to trafficking 29kg of cocaine into Australia and helping to disguise the smuggling operation as a luxury island cruise, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
NSW District Court Judge Kate Traill handed down the sentence today, ensuring Roberge will spend no fewer than four years and nine months behind bars.
After considering the Instagram posts Roberge took during the 2016 trip – which saw her visit locales including Bermuda, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Tahiti – Judge Traill issued a searing indictment of social media.
Judge Traill said Roberge had been “seduced by lifestyle and the opportunity to post glamorous Instagram photos,” along with the potential financial windfall she stood to make as a result of the trafficking ploy.
Over the course of the case, the court has heard that Roberge was recruited into the scheme by her “sugar daddy”, who paid for her first-class tickets with the intention of using her as a decoy.
The sentencing comes nearly two years after the haul was intercepted by Australian Border Force authorities as the MS Sea Princess entered Sydney.
Earlier, her accomplice Isabelle Lagace was sentenced to a maximum of seven-and-a-half years in prison. A third member of the crew, Andre Tamine, is yet to face sentencing.
