Lawyer Gets 9 Years for Smuggling Drugs Into Jail
A lawyer convicted on drug-related charges for smuggling cocaine to jail inmates was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to nine years in state prison.
Lawrence J. Elkins, 35, who claimed he knew he was “passing some drug” into the jail but was unaware that it was rock cocaine, was sentenced after pleading guilty to drug possession, Assistant U.S. Atty. John Gordon said. Elkins will not be eligible for parole, Gordon said.
Elkins was charged with conspiracy and narcotics charges following a sheriff’s undercover investigation in 1988 when county jailers were tipped that he was aiding drug deliveries.
He was accused of attempting to pass more than an ounce of rock cocaine wrapped in five balloons packed into a condom to Dwayne White, 26, through White’s 19-year-old sister, Kimberly.
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