She had forgotten that she had it in her bag. Yes, I know that when you are in another country, you go by their laws, penalties and seriousness, not ours. Spent 20 years in the Navy, traveled to many different places and am aware of the fact. But, their treatment of her was far more than what she deserved. And for the record, smuggling is KNOWINGLY taking stuff into another place, she didn't realize she had it with her until it was too late.
As far as Whelan's charge and conviction being "questionable"? Sorry, but the military doesn't work that way. He knowingly did illegal stuff to the point where he was convicted and kicked out with a Bad Conduct Discharge. You've got to really work at it to garner that type of discharge from the military. If it was "questionable" as you assert, they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of giving him a BCD, rather they would have kicked him out with a General. Much less paperwork and hoops to jump through.