San Diego

Thomas Penn, the father of Sagon Penn, pleaded guilty Monday to three cocaine charges that could bring him a life sentence in federal prison.

Penn, 50, was one of 12 people charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in a federal grand jury indictment issued on Jan. 17.

Penn pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing cocaine with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a public school, and one count of manufacturing cocaine.

Assistant U. S. Atty. Edward Allard III said the minimum sentence facing Penn is 10 years, and the maximum sentence is life. Penn also faces a maximum $4-million fine. U. S. District Court Judge Leland Nielsen set sentencing for Aug. 21.

Penn admitted dealing three kilos and 649 grams of cocaine.

Since Penn’s arrest, he has been held without bail in the Metropolitan Correctional Center after a magistrate ruled that he was possibly a danger to society because of his leadership in the cocaine distribution operation.

Six co-defendants also entered guilty pleas to various charges on Monday. However, their plea agreements were sealed by the court.

Penn’s son, Sagon Penn, 27, was acquitted in two controversial trials of murder, manslaughter, attempted murder and assault as a result of a racially charged incident on March 31, 1985, in which Sagon killed a white police officer, wounded another and shot a civilian ride-along.

One of Sagon Penn’s defense witnesses, Carlton Smith Jr., 48, was charged with drug offenses along with his father in the federal case. However, Smith is one of four co-defendants who did not plead guilty and is scheduled for trial next week.

According to the cocaine indictment, Penn’s father met and paid money to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent in cocaine deals that occurred in October and November of last year.