Heroin Smuggler Gets 30-Tear Term
A 49-year-old Chatsworth man convicted of attempting to smuggle high-grade Thai heroin into the United States was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison.
In March 1999, a jury convicted Solomon Tekle, 49, of conspiracy to import heroin, attempted importation of heroin, money laundering, tax evasion and other charges after investigators seized eight kilograms of the drug in Bangkok, Thailand, and Athens.
Federal authorities said Tekle used couriers to move heroin through international airports between 1992 and 1994, distributing it in Chicago. Tekle was able to get 29 kilograms into the country undetected, they said.
Tekle was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi on Wednesday morning.
The defendant’s wife, Lily Tekle, was convicted earlier of tax evasion. She was sentenced in March 2000 to 21 months in prison.
The investigation was a joint effort of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.
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