2,500 elderly inmates live in Peru's prisons
2,500 elderly inmates live in Peru's prisons
Mar 11, 12:43 AM EDT
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Teresa de Jesus Tello never thought she would be incarcerated in a Peruvian prison at age 82.
The retired Peruvian teacher was arrested by anti-drug police at Lima's Jorge Chavez airport at the end of 2014 when she allegedly tried to take a small suitcase filled with cocaine on a flight to Madrid, Spain.
She became one of 2,500 inmates over age 60 in the South American country's prisons. Most of the elderly women behind bars are there for drug trafficking.
"I hope they have compassion for this poor woman who is living her last days," Tello said on the patio of the block for senior citizens in Lima's women's prison in the Chorrillos district.
She has no complaints against prison authorities, who she said "give her decent food." But she is terrified by the pace of Peru's judicial process, which could give her a sentence of up to six years. "It advances like a turtle."
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