Ex-Playboy model arrested

She was a rock goddess during the 80s and 90s. She was also a Playboy model and actress. Brandi Brandt, 45, was best known for marrying Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx. She was also on the March 1990 cover of Playboy with billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump.

But her high-profile life came crashing down when she was arrested for being part of a US-Australia drug syndicate, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.

Now she is confined to a jail cell inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, awaiting extradition to Australia. Also locked up in another cell in the highsecurity prison is her former boyfriend and co-conspirator, motorcycle stuntman Rusty Setser.

The report said both avoided lengthy court battles in Los Angeles by consenting to be extradited. They face a maximum life jail sentence in Australia if convicted.

Her lawyer, Mr Anthony Solis, said she is holding up well in prison. "Anyone who is in custody getting extradited to another country that is very far away would not be happy, I guess," AAP quoted Mr Solis as saying. "She hasn't expressed any particular emotion about it."

Brandt and Setser have been charged in Australia with one count of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of cocaine and one count of dealing with the proceeds of crime worth A$100,000 (S$118,000) or more.

Australian authorities alleged that Brandt flew from Los Angeles to Australia twice in 2007, but stayed in Australia for three days or less on both occasions.

She allegedly arrived in Sydney on Nov 4, 2007, on a Qantas flight, booked into the Swiss Grand Hotel at Bondi Beach and between Nov 5 and Nov 7 transferred A$71,650 to herself in eight separate transactions via various banks.

Denied visa

After Setser was denied a visa to enter Australia, authorities alleged that she boarded a United Airlines flight that arrived in Sydney on Dec 2, 2007.

Australian Customs officers, using a drugsniffing dog, searched the United plane and found a 12-block package of cocaine hidden in a rubbish bin in a toilet at the rear of the aircraft.

Brandt allegedly flew back to Los Angeles the next day.

From July to Sep 2007, she received 10 money wire transfers from various individuals in Australia, according to court documents.

Including the eight wire transfers she sent to herself while in Australia, she received A$130,760 from Australia while Setser received A$138,205, according to court documents.

Brandt married Sixx in 1989 and they had three children - Gunner, Decker and Storm.

One month after their divorce in 1996, Sixx married another Playboy model and former Baywatch TV series star, Donna D'Errico.

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