A British beauty therapist accused of attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £3.5million into the US is holed up in a notorious prison that once housed Al Capone and a ‘Killer Clown’.
Kim Hall, 28, was at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport waiting for her connecting flight back to Manchester when Homeland Security officers swooped on the Middlesbrough woman after finding 43kg of cocaine stashed in two suitcases.
Hall had flown into the US from Mexico, where it’s alleged she received the cocaine. However, Hall, who is being held at Cook County Jail in Illinois, insists she believed she was transporting cash from a property transaction.
Cook County Jail is one of America’s largest prisons and has a reputation for its harsh conditions. It houses thousands of inmates and employs nearly 3,000 law enforcement officers.
(Image: TANNEN MAURY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The jail is infamous for once incarcerating 1920s mobster Al Capone and serial murderer John Wayne Gacy, also known as the Killer Clown, reports the Mirror.
Friends of Hall have expressed their concerns for her safety within the prison, where 18 people lost their lives in 2023, as reported by US media outlet Injustice Watch. This figure represents the highest number of deaths recorded at the facility since 2013.
A family friend revealed to MailOnline about Kim’s plight: “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.
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“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.”
The pal went on to detail Kim’s background: “She’s a lovely hardworking 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 (Spain) for a while and although she enjoyed it she really missed her family.”
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Continuing, they spoke of her family ties: “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.”
With the magnitude of the drug bust, the 28-year-old is potentially facing an incredibly long sentence given Class X Felonies can lead to 15-60 years behind bars.
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Kim’s mum Tracy, aged 58, is clinging to hope, reportedly stating: “The truth will come out, we are certain that Kim will be able to tell the real story in time.”
Tracy, alongside Kim’s sister Stephanie, is anxiously awaiting further updates and describes the ordeal as “horrendous” for the family.
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