A ‘vulnerable’ gran spent four years in a cockroach and rat-infested prison after falling for a cocaine smuggling scam.

Patricia Baronowski-Schneider fell for a ‘business opportunity’ and was tricked into delivering a suitcase to a man in Hong Kong – but when airport staff opened the bag she realised it contained cocaine.

The grandmother, 54, says parts of her brain don’t function properly after she suffered a severe brain injury in 2015, which left her vulnerable to scams.

She was sentenced to more than six years in prison – but was released after four for good behaviour.

Patricia, from Long Island in New York, spent four years sharing a room and a ‘hole in the ground’ for a toilet with up to 22 other people in the ‘brutal’ and ‘violent’ Peruvian prisons.

She said: ‘I felt like I was on a tour of the Peruvian prison system. It was horrible. You had to take ice cold showers and they were rat and cockroach infested.

‘For the first couple of months I had to sleep on a mattress on the floor and you could feel cockroaches and rats walking all over you – it was just horrible.

‘Being in a place where I don’t speak the language was so lonely – it was so depressing.’

In April 2017, Patricia landed in Peru for the start of what she thought would be an International Monetary Fund (IMF) event for like-minded business owners.

The ‘business opportunity’ turned out to be a scam set up by a drug trafficking ring to lure her to Peru and get her to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

After meeting with what she thought were like-minded businessmen and women in Peru, Patricia was told to get on a plane with luggage for a man she was due to meet in Hong Kong.

The trip was fully paid for and she had to hand over all her details including a copy of her passport.

Once she got to the airport, Patricia was swarmed by police who searched the luggage and found it laced with cocaine.

She said: ‘Once I approached the counter to check in my luggage I was swarmed by police.

‘They said they suspect I have cocaine in my luggage. I thought it was so embarrassing – I am a good person.

‘They checked the spare luggage I was given and it was laced with cocaine.

‘I was there for hours. They went through everything I had; my money, credit cards, wedding rings and I never got any of it back.’

Patricia says she showed proof to police that she was part of a scam but they didn’t believe her.

Patricia was put in prison for a year and then under house arrest for 13 months until her court date in 2018.

She said: ‘I waited two years for a ruling – it was two years of missing my grandchild and I already had another grandchild with another on the way.

‘The judge told me I was going to be there for many years and I had ties to the cartel.

‘I pleaded innocent and I was sentenced to six years and 10 months.’

Patricia then spent four years in prisons in Callao, Ancón and Lima.

She said: ‘I was locked up during Covid. It was crazy – they had no clue what they were doing.

‘There were 150 people in a room together and we had 12 seats to watch TV.

‘I met a lot of Americans in there who had also fallen for scams.

‘I contemplated suicide but my son wrote me a really nice note which gave me the strength to continue.

‘He is the reason I am still here today.’

Patricia’s freedom came in January 2021, when she was told she would be released early on the grounds of good behaviour.

Patricia said: ‘It was a nighttime release. Everyone was super excited for me. They were cheering as I was leaving.

‘I was given a completely new passport. I was escorted by police which didn’t make me feel any better.

‘Once the plane left the ground I was like “oh my god, it is finally over”.’

Patricia landed at LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York, and was met by her husband Charles Schneider, 53, and her daughter Serina Sweet, 31.

Patricia said: ‘It was amazing to see them after so many years. The feeling of hugging them, knowing it all was finally over, was incredible.

‘It was an emotional rollercoaster – once I hugged my husband I knew it was over.

‘Being back with my family is the best feeling, I am immersing myself in all that. Always looking forward and never looking back.’

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