The Nation : Woman Drug Kingpin Sentenced to Life

Colombian-born Eucaris Ceballos, believed to be the first woman convicted under the new federal drug kingpin law, was sentenced in Trenton, N.J., to life imprisonment and fined more than $4 million on charges she ran a multimillion dollar cocaine ring in New Jersey and New York. Ceballos, 54, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise to distribute narcotics and related charges following a three-month trial that ended in September. The Florida resident was ordered to serve her life term with no parole and fined $4,000,200. Ceballos is said to be the first woman in the nation charged and convicted under a 1986 revision of the kingpin statute that made a life sentence mandatory upon conviction, according to federal prosecutors. A previous version of the law carried a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.