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Instagram Star Who Smuggled Drugs For Likes Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison

Cocaine smuggler chastised by judge for social media lifestyle

A Canadian woman, who has been dubbed “cocaine babe” by the media, has been sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison for smuggling suitcases of drugs into Australia.

Melina Roberge, 24, was arrested in 2016 after Australian Border Force authorities raided Sea Princess, a luxury cruise ship, while it was docked in Sydney, and discovered suitcases filled with cocaine in her possession, Austrlian media reported.

On Wednesday, Roberge cried as NSW District Court Judge Kate Traill sentenced her to eight years in jail for drug trafficking. Roberge will be eligible for parole in May 2021, after taking into account the time she has already served.

Melina Roberge, 24, was sentenced on Wednesday to a maximum of eight years in prison for smuggling suitcases of drugs into Australia. Instagram

Although Traill noted Roberge had a decent chance of rehabilitation and accepted that her remorse was genuine, she also criticized her motivation for committing the crimes.

During her trial, Roberge claimed the cruise was one of her rewards for smuggling drugs that were part of a $21 million cocaine plot. She said she took part in the scheme to gain more Instagram followers and to promote the glamorous lifestyle she portrays on her social media account.

It is a very sad indictment on her relative age group in society to seem to get self worth relative to posts on Instagram,” Traill said.

“It is sad they seek to attain such a vacuous existence where how many likes they receive are their currency. She was seduced by lifestyle and the opportunity to post glamorous Instagram photos from around the world.”

She added: “This highlights the negative influence of social media on young women.”

Traill also revealed that Roberge was sexually involved with the “much older man”, her so-called “sugar daddy”, who recruited her to transport the drugs.

“He charmed her and spoiled her and became intimately involved with her,” Traill said.

The Sea Princess vessel made stops in Ireland, the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and South American countries, including Colombia and Peru, during a seven-week journey, the report said.

Co-defendant Isabelle Lagace, 30, a former porn star, traveled with Roberge and the pair often posted bikini-clad photos of themselves with tropical backdrops, the report said.

The two were reportedly given first-class cruise tickets worth $20,000, plus about $5,000 in spending money.

Judge Kate Traill of the New South Wales District Court said Wednesday she accepted that Roberge, was genuinely remorseful and had “a good chance of rehabilitation”.

But the judge criticized Roberge’s social media motivations for taking the cruise.

“It is a very sad indictment on her relative age group in society to seem to get self-worth relative to posts on Instagram,” Traill said. “This highlights the negative influence of social media on young women.”

Roberge had regretted her actions since her arrest and incarceration in different maximum security Sydney women’s prisons, the Post reported.

The judge also said Roberge had a sexual relationship with her so-called “sugar daddy,” who is a “much older man”.

“He charmed her and spoiled her and became intimately involved with her,” Traill said.

The sugar daddy “enticed” her to work as an escort, as she slept with men he introduced her to in nightclubs. She reportedly earned more than $12,000 as an escort in Morocco. 

She met him in a Montreal restaurant in early 2015.

A third French Canadian drug plotter, Andre Tamine, 67, was also arrested in August 2016 along with Roberge and Lagace.

Globetrotting drugmule Isabelle Lagace 

Lagace reportedly made an early guilty plea and was sentenced to a maximum seven-and-a-half, minimum four-and-a-half years in prison, just shy of Roberge’s sentence.

Tamine will be sentenced at a later date.