2 Men Sentenced in Cocaine-Fusing Case : Courts: Colombian nationals each get nearly 16 years in federal prison for roles in shipping drug-laced dog kennels.

Two Colombian nationals were each sentenced to nearly 16 years in federal prison Friday for their roles in conspiring to ship cocaine-laced dog kennels into the United States.

A defense attorney for one of the accused had argued that FBI agents had entrapped the two men and encouraged them to commit the crimes. But days into their trial in late March, Henry Bustos and Harold Satizabal abruptly pleaded guilty to the conspiracy counts in exchange for an agreement by prosecutors to drop two additional counts against them.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor said there was no evidence of misconduct on the part of either the FBI or a federal informant used to make a case against the two men.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Bustos and Satizabal faced up to 17 1/2 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors said Bustos fused the cocaine into the fiberglass used to make the kennels and Satizabal was an engineer, both working for the Cali Cartel in Colombia.

At the time of their arrests in Garden Grove nearly two years ago, federal authorities called a news conference to show the lengths to which some drug smugglers will go to ship cocaine.