Yesterday, the 27-year-old, who previously lived in Port Lincoln in South Australia, found herself in the dock of a Sydney court, accused of being a drug mule. She is charged with conspiring to import a commercial quantity of pseudoephedrine from Thailand.
Ms Hill, who spends six months of the year working in Cannes, was arrested at her grandmother’s house in Adelaide on Monday night.
She is now the centre of a case in which eight people, including Customs officers and quarantine inspectors, were arrested over the alleged importation of narcotics into Australia.
Ms Hill’s Facebook page said she graduated from Port Lincoln High School.
The court heard Hill was working as a waitress in a Five Dock hotel when she and another woman were recruited by two men - Joseph Harb and a Customs officer who cannot be named for legal reasons - and offered $10,000 to go to Thailand and bring the drug back in their luggage.
The Customs officer allegedly told the two women "everything would be ok" and assured them their suitcases would not be searched, as he would be working on the planned day of their return.
He also advised them not to get "too dressed up" as they would draw too much attention to themselves, facts tendered to the court alleged.
The court was told Harb left for Thailand on June 10, 2009 and bought 10kg of pseudoephedrine from a chemist in Phuket.
Hill and her accomplice allegedly arrived three days later and - after a six-day stay - arrived home with the drugs hidden in their suitcases.
Another Customs officer, Paul Katralias, who was charged last August with drug offences, was allegedly also recruited and paid $5000 cash and human growth hormone worth about $1800 to turn a blind eye and not search the women at the airport.
But Katralias was allegedly diverted to other duties on the day the women returned and did not facilitate their passage through the customs area.
The court heard the Customs officer, who was later to become Hill's boyfriend, was arrested on Monday and charged over his role in the drug importation. Hill, who spends six months of the year working in Cannes, was arrested at her grandmother's Adelaide home on Monday night.
She was extradited to Sydney to face the charges yesterday. Defence barrister Wayne Baffsky told the court there was no proof the pseudoephedrine was intended to be used in the manufacture of drugs.
"It's a weak case at one end, and hopeless at the other," Mr Baffsky said.
He said the drugs had not been seized by police and had allegedly been onsold by Harb, due to be sentenced on January 16 for his role in the alleged importation.
Wearing a leather jacket and looking pale faced, Hill sobbed in the dock as magistrate Beverley Schurr agreed the prosecution did not have a strong case, and granted her conditional bail.
Byrnes, an acquaintance of Hill, sat in the back of the court during the bail application. He attempted to pay Hill's bail with $20,000 cash but was told by court staff he needed a cheque.
"I think everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty," Byrnes said after being asked why he had posted Hill's bail.
"She is one of those very holistic, natural, very honest people. A kind and gentle person. To suggest she has anything to do with this is completely out of character for the person I have come to know."
In the end, Byrnes could not post bail for Hill after the prosecution objected to his involvement, saying his criminal history did not make him an acceptable person.
Hill's friend Shani Moffatt, who heads a PR firm, was able to post the surety and bail was granted.
Hill emerged from the holding cells and said she was grateful to the good friends who were supporting her.
"I'll definitely be fighting the charges," she said. Hill will reappear in court on February 27.
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