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Model 'forgot' she had 'meth in Chanel handbag'

A model in court for drug possession was later nabbed with meth she forgot was in her Chanel handbag, while visiting her bodybuilder boyfriend in a Melbourne prison.

Jonita Ragaisyte, 27, has pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a drug of dependence, more than two years after police found an "Aladdin's cave" of drugs at the apartment she shared with her then-boyfriend Cemre Volkan.

Volkan was jailed last year for drug trafficking and possession after police found cocaine, GHB, ketamine, LSD, MDMA, steroids and testosterone in the Docklands apartment.

Ragaisyte has since admitted to possessing the GHB-alternative butanediol as well as n-ethylhexedrone, a drug with similar properties to methamphetamine.

Jonita Ragaisyte leaves the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne. She pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a drug of dependence. Source: AAP Image.
Jonita Ragaisyte leaves the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne. She pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a drug of dependence. Source: AAP Image.

It was revealed during her pre-sentence hearing on Friday that Ragaisyte was also found with methamphetamine while visiting Volkan at the Metropolitan Remand Centre, just months after the 2017 raid.

"The prison officer conducted a bag and possession check, in her Chanel bag appeared a zip lock back of what appeared to be methamphetamine," prosecutor Richard Pirrie said.

Ragaisyte's lawyer Megan Casey said her client was fined without conviction over the matter, noting "she had forgotten that it was in her handbag".

Ragaisyte came to Australia from Lithuania on a student visa in 2013 and three years later began dating Volkan, known as Red Ra in bodybuilding circles, who previously dated socialite Brynne Edelstein.

Since Volkan was remanded in custody, Ragaisyte has had visa issues and struggled with anxiety and depression.

Ms Casey said Ragaisyte spent much of the last 18 months couch surfing.

Ragaisyte has not found favour with County Court Judge Christopher Ryan who on Thursday criticised the model for looking bored in court.

"I'm tending to the view that there's a bit of a princess about this particular prisoner which was also evidenced by her conduct yesterday and is not assisting her cause," he said on Friday.

Judge Ryan berated the model during Thursday's proceedings after she told the Lithuanian translator to stop assisting her.

Jonita Ragaisyte came to Australia in 2013, on a student visa. Source: Instagram/ Jonita Ragaisyte
Jonita Ragaisyte came to Australia in 2013, on a student visa. Source: Instagram/ Jonita Ragaisyte

"It does your cause no good to sit and stare at the ceiling as if this is all too boring because you just might find yourself bored at Dame Phyllis Frost prison for women," he said.

Prosecutors are pushing for Ragaisyte to be sentenced to a "short sharp" stint in prison, while Ms Casey is hoping for a fine, likely to be paid by Ragaisyte's parents in Lithuania.

"She has worked previously as a model and when she is in better physical health it is also anticipated that that will be open to her again," Ms Casey said of her client's future.

"Let's lower the guns to a more reasonable trajectory - pulling coffees in a cafe might be more achievable," Judge Ryan responded.

"She is clearly an intelligent woman, but she wouldn't be the first young woman in Victoria with tertiary qualifications to find herself behind an espresso machine from eight o'clock in the morning till six o'clock at night six days a week."

The hearing continues.

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