Palos Verdes Lawyer Gets 24 Years for Role in Drug-Smuggling Ring
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SCRANTON, Pa. — A federal judge sentenced a Southern California lawyer Friday to 24 years in prison for his role in what prosecutors have called one of the country’s largest drug-smuggling rings.
U.S. District Judge Richard Conaboy also ordered John Fulton Robertson III of Palos Verdes to pay a $50,000 fine. Conaboy, who said Robertson was lured into the drug-smuggling operation by the chance to become an “instant multimillionaire,” on Thursday had sentenced two other defendants to prison in the case.
Under a plea agreement, Robertson pleaded guilty to four counts of importing, transporting and possessing cocaine. He could have been sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison and fines totaling $1,625,000.
The ring used decoy planes and modified aircraft to smuggle at least 7 1/2 tons of cocaine into the United States since 1980, netting at least $25 million in profits, federal prosecutors said.
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