2 Men Get Prison for Scheme to Export Cocaine

Two men convicted of scheming to export cocaine from Newport Beach to Australia were sentenced to prison Monday by a U.S. District Court judge in Santa Ana.

Eugene W. Foster, 40, was sentenced to six years, and Robert A. Aceto, also 40, was sentenced to five years. The two, both residents of Newport Beach, were charged with conspiracy and cocaine possession.

Foster, described as the mastermind of the project, was lured by the prospect of profits on the Australian deal eight times larger than those made by the illegal import of cocaine into the United States, prosecutors said. The two planned to use a 59-foot sailboat called the High Roller to transport drugs supplied by a third participant in the drug scheme, Edward R. Nigro Jr., 38, of Long Beach.

Nigro, who has been convicted twice previously of drug distribution, could get a life term when he is sentenced in September by Judge Alicemarie Stotler.

The trio tripped up when they enlisted the aid of “Hugo,” an undercover agent with the U.S. Customs Service, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas J. Umberg. Recordings of conversations with the agent, in which the defendants planned the operation, were the centerpiece of the trial.

Evidence also included two yellow air tanks normally used by scuba divers, which had been altered to conceal drugs. During the June trial, Umberg challenged defense attorneys to provide a “logical explanation” for any use of the altered tanks other than to smuggle narcotics.

Authorities also seized the $200,000 sailboat used by the men.