Man Appealing Term Convicted Again
A San Clemente man was convicted in Los Angeles federal court Wednesday of conspiracy to possess cocaine for distribution while he was free on bail pending appeal of a 25-year prison sentence he had received in another drug case.
Mark Steven McFarlane, 30, was arrested April 2 as the “behind-the-scenes” man in a scheme to purchase two kilograms of cocaine for $62,000 from federal Drug Enforcement Administration undercover agents.
The convicted buyer of the cocaine in the case, Ali Reza Naimi Mohases, 34, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday.
At the time of his arrest, McFarlane was free on bail pending appeal of the sentence he had received for his role in the Mobley cocaine ring, dismantled last year after a massive investigation by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Orange County-based ring was described by federal authorities as the largest drug network prosecuted on the West Coast.
Will Appeal Verdict
Defense attorney Roger Diamond said he will appeal Wednesday’s verdict, contending that U.S. District Judge James M. Ideman admitted evidence from the earlier Mobley trial that unjustly stacked the case against his client.
McFarlane is being held without bail.
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