CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Former Mayor Gets 9 Years in Prison

The former mayor of South Lake Tahoe was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug and money-laundering charges, but not before he tearfully accused federal investigators of threatening to kill him if he did not commit illegal acts. “I was told if I went to the police, I’d be killed,” said Terry Trupp, his voice cracking with emotion as he read a statement to U.S. District Judge Milton Schwartz. Trupp, 47, said he became involved in the illegal scheme because he thought that he was helping the CIA and that prosecutors orchestrated the entire transaction. He was arrested in June, 1989, with his wife, Kimberly, as the result of an elaborate 20-month federal sting called Operation Deep Snow.