Singer Martha Heredia, 23, will be facing seven years behind bars for her part in drug trafficking.

The "Latin American Idol" winner from 2009 has been sentenced to seven years for smuggling heroin. She was accused of trafficking 2.9 pounds of heroin, which she hid in the heel of three platforms shoes when she was on her way from the Dominican Republic to New York, notes Primera Hora.

The incident occurred on February 2013.

She was facing a 20-year sentence, which is the maximum in the Dominican Republic for these types of crimes. The singer pled guilty.

"I assume responsibility for what I am being accused, magistrates, my dad and my mom, and I want to be forgiven, to be reintegrated into society," she said through tears.

She added that she let herself be lied to and tricked into smuggling the drugs, but she continued to take responsibility.

"You can't run from what you did," she said. "And I'm paying for it dearly."

The singer also has to pay a fine of $2,300.

Her lawyer, Daysi Valerio, hoped for her acquittal because of her level of regret. She also said that as humans, people commit errors.

Heredia's father asked for clemency, and her mother wept inconsolably.

Heredia refused to speak to the media.

When she competed on the singing competition, the singer was very well supported by people from the Dominican Republic. After winning, she was met by fans at the airport, who then accompanied her to the president's house.

Her singing career didn't take off, and she had a few missteps in life. For example, she had a difficult relationship with her former husband, Vakero. She accused him of domestic abuse, and at the time that she got caught, she was in the middle of a legal battle against him.