Under Indonesian law,the trafficking of more than five grams of illicit drugs in non-plant form can carry the death penalty or up to life in prison.
Welton’s lawyer Edward Pangkahila said on past experience the quantity of drugs he was found with was unlikely to result in the top tier of punishment.
A German man was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in 2018 for carrying seven grams of heroin and 2.5 grams of methamphetamine into Bali from Berlin.
But prosecutors could still push for a jail term of up to 20 years for Welton,who holds Australian and British citizenship,if he is dealt with under the least severe band of penalties.
Pangkahila said he was lobbying for the Perth man to serve time in a rehabilitation facility,arguing he was an addict and that the drugs were for personal use – not to sell.
“In the beginning of the investigation,BNN tried hard to determine that he was a dealer,” he said.
“They thought it could be a sample. But now I think they are slowly moving away from it. They started to believe that Jeff is an addict. So,I think,in order to get certainty,it’s better to conduct an assessment.”