Mother of British beautician say she is innocent of smuggling plot

The mother of a British beautician accused of smuggling 43 kilos of cocaine into the US has insisted she is innocent and will be released from jail to reveal the truth.

Kim Hall, 28, went to Mexico to collect two suitcases packed with cocaine and flew them into Chicago's O'Hare airport where she was apprehended by Homeland Security.

But as damning as the evidence seems, Kim's family believe in her innocence and say she is guilty of nothing more than being 'stupid and naive.'

In tearful phone calls from prison, she explained that she thought she was carrying cash from real estate deals and had no idea the cases contained drugs.

Although she is languishing in brutal Cook County Jail, Illinois, her mother Tracy is confident she will be vindicated.

At home in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, Tracy, 58, told Mailonline: 'The truth will come out, we are certain that Kim will be able to tell the real story in time.'

She and Kim's sister Stephanie are waiting at home for further news and say the ordeal has been 'horrendous' for the family.

Friends of Kim have also told of their fears for her safety in a prison where 18 inmates died last year alone, with half of those attributed to inadequate supervision and medical care.

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A friend of the family said: 'Everyone is beside themselves with worry over Kim's safety in that prison. The thought of that sweet, shy, timid girl locked up in a place like that is unbearable.

'No one could believe it when word got out that Kim had been arrested on drugs charges, you couldn't have picked a person less likely to be involved in something like that.

'She's a lovely hard working girl with her own business who has never been in trouble with the law in her life.

'After she left school she went to work in bars in Salou for a while and although she enjoyed it she really missed her family.

'She worships her mum and dad and is very close to them. She likes to be close to home and I can't imagine what she must be going through now, stuck so far away at the other side of the world.

'Kim had been doing really well in her business which she was building up nicely.

'She was doing nails and specialised in doing make-up for weddings, people trusted her for their big occasions and she had a bright future ahead of her before this happened.

'Everyone is hoping that there might be some way that if she is convicted she can somehow be flown back to serve her sentence in a British jail where she could at least receive visits.

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'Everything you read about Cook County Jail is really scary.'

Last year was one of the most lethal in the history of Cook County - which once held Al Capone and multiple murderer John Wayne Gacy, known as the Killer Clown.

According to Injustice Watch, more people died last year than in any year since 2013, when the jail population was twice as high.

As a percentage of the jail's average daily population, 2023 had the highest jail mortality rate on record — more than twice the US national average — at 3.4 deaths per 1,000 detainees.

Kim's dad John Hall has previously told The Sun: 'She's not a drug smuggler. She was told that it would be money she was carrying.

'They got her phone and threatened her family and that's why she did it.

'She'd been to Portugal with a friend and met people over there who contacted her when she was back saying they were into real estate in Mexico and she could go for a free holiday.'

He added that she is 'petrified' after telling him that 'you don't understand what they were threatening me with'.

Kim came home from her holiday in Portugal, which she had taken with a friend, and flew out alone to Cancun, where she was given the drug-filled suitcases.

Due to the amount of drugs seized, the offence is in the top bracket for sentencing, with Class X Felony which carries 15-60 years in prison.

She is being held in Chicago awaiting trial after making a number of preliminary appearances at the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Her family have had to shell out £28,000 for a local attorney with the trial potentially a year away.

A Cook County court spokeswoman said: 'Her next appearance is on November 13.'