A native of Czechoslovakia, facing a possible...

A native of Czechoslovakia, facing a possible life sentence for operating a worldwide drug-smuggling ring, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty. Josef Kolek, 40, of Northridge, will serve the sentence concurrently with a 5-year sentence he received March 4 for tax evasion. U.S. Atty. Edward Weiner had asked U.S. District Judge Judith N. Keep to sentence Kolek to at least 15 years in prison, arguing that Kolek had turned his back on a successful plastering business to become a drug kingpin. He smuggled into the country at least 100 kilograms of cocaine every two months, Weiner said. Weiner said Kolek forfeited assets worth at least $5 million as part of his guilty plea. Keep, at the request of defense attorney Mark Heaney, said she would request the Bureau of Prisons to allow Kolek to serve his time in a federal prison in California so he may be close to his wife and two children.