Drug Kingpin Fowlie Gets 30-Year Term

Daniel James Fowlie, convicted kingpin of one of the nation’s largest marijuana-trafficking operations, was sentenced to 30 years in prison and fined $1 million Monday after telling the court, “I haven’t been an angel all my life.”

Fowlie, who has been the target of a number of federal and local drug investigations for some 20 years, was convicted of running a drug operation from a remote Orange County ranch straddling the Riverside County line that federal prosecutors say generated $40 million in income between late 1981 and 1985.

“He is someone who has worked hard in the commodities business to earn this type of sentence,” U.S. Dist. Judge Alicemarie Stotler said. “Only the commodity he chose happened to be marijuana.”

Fowlie, now 57, was arrested at a seaside resort in Mexico in 1987 and remained in Mexican jails until 1990, when he finally lost his extradition fight. His attorneys argued at his trial two months ago that many of the government witnesses against him, some of whom were confessed drug dealers, lacked credibility.

Dressed in blue denims of the federal corrections system, Fowlie told the court Monday that it was “pretty hard to beat the largest law firm in the world--the United States government.”

“I’m sorry for any problems I may have caused, but I haven’t done more than 10% of what they say I’ve done,” Fowlie said. “If I ever get out, I guarantee that I will never ever be associated with (the) kinds of people they brought in here as witnesses. All these (witnesses) . . . the real players, are paid and free. That’s the way it goes in this system today.”

A battery of FBI officials sitting in the back of the courtroom during Monday’s hearing later hailed the judge’s decision to give Fowlie the harsh sentence recommended by the U.S. attorney’s office.

“This case is highly significant, because it’s the first time to my knowledge that we have been able to successfully extradite someone from Mexico,” said William J. Stollhans, assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office. “We hope that this will open the door for other cases from there.”

Federal prosecutors claim that Fowlie had a personal income of $3 million from one year alone in his drug operations, and that millions of dollars in profit from the operation remain unaccounted for.

“It’s certainly a good bet that (he) still has a lot of money out there,” Special Assistant U.S. Atty. James Dutton argued to the court. “We need to let these people know that if you go into a high-risk business like marijuana, you are going to have to cough up that illicit money when you get caught.”

Fowlie was convicted of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute, and other related charges.

He was accused of constructing a warehouse with an underground tank at his ranch, known as Rancho del Rio, and organizing other warehouses for importing tons of marijuana from a major Mexican drug cartel. He also involved both of his sons in the operation. They were convicted but given light sentences.

One of them, Dan Fowlie Jr., who has since been released, sat with other family members and snickered when Judge Stotler made some of her sentencing remarks. He refused to comment to members of the news media.

Fowlie’s attorney. James Riddet, pleaded to the court that Fowlie should get some consideration from the court because of the hardships he endured in Mexico.

“For more than two years, he got meat twice a week--chicken heads the first day and chicken feet the next,” Riddet said.

But Judge Stotler countered that it seemed strange to her that if Fowlie hated the Mexican jails that much, why he fought extradition back to the United States.

“This sentence sounds harsh, but it should sound harsh,” the judge said. She added that she has sentenced some people to as much as 20 years in prison for selling 20 kilos of illicit drugs, where Fowlie’s crimes involved untold tons of marijuana.