Man Convicted of Smuggling Drugs, Ending 20-Year Inquiry

Daniel James Fowlie, the alleged patriarch of a massive marijuana smuggling ring based at a remote Orange County ranch, was convicted on drug charges Friday, ending a 20-year effort by law enforcement to bring him to justice.

Fowlie, 58, was found guilty on 15 felony counts in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles after a six-week trial in which federal prosecutors characterized him as the kingpin of one of the nation’s largest pot trafficking outfits in the mid-1980s.

“It has been an unbelieveable episode,” said U.S. Customs Agent Robert Mattivi, who has worked on the case for six years. “During our investigation, we heard that he would make comments like, ‘They’d never catch me.’ He was always one step ahead.”

Fowlie, who once painted a great horned owl for Mexico’s President Carlos Salinas de Gortari while fighting his extradition from Mexico to the United States, was convicted of possession of narcotics, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, making illegal transfers of currency outside the United States, and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. The latter charge carries a possible life sentence.

As the verdict was read, Fowlie sat poker faced with his chin resting in his right hand. His attorney, James Riddet, who argued that the government’s case “was tainted” by its use of drug traffickers as witnesses, said both he and co-counsel Michael Abzug “were disappointed” but “not discouraged” by the verdict. He said the defense will appeal.

Fowlie is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10.