Man Paid in Drugs for Aid in Escape Gets 12 Years
A man who received more than 50 pounds of cocaine for helping a Colombian drug trafficker escape from jail was sentenced Monday to more than 12 years in federal prison for drug convictions.
Carl Croom, 32, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to two narcotics charges, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson.
In secretly taped conversations, Croom admitted receiving 50.6 pounds of cocaine in exchange for helping to arrange the 1987 escape of William Londono from the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors said. Londono is considered a significant cocaine dealer who apparently has fled to Colombia, prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas Bienert said Croom allegedly admitted his involvement in the escape to an inmate in several conversations in 1988 and 1989.
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