Man Gets 8 Years in Drug Smuggling Case
A member of a Southern California smuggling ring that bribed a Customs Service inspector to get cocaine and marijuana across the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.
Richard Hart, 30, had pleaded guilty earlier to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Hart was part of a ring based in the Imperial Valley that relied on assistance from Customs inspector Ernest Michael Zabala to get drugs into the United States.
Zabala, who is Hart’s cousin, would allow trunkloads of cocaine and marijuana to pass through his inspection lane at the Calexico Port of Entry, about 100 miles east of San Diego.
The two were arrested last summer with another defendant, Sal Carrillo of El Centro, who is awaiting trial. The smuggling took place in 1996 and 1997, said Tim Coughlin, an assistant U.S. attorney.
“It took some time to build the case,” he added.
Zabala has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years to life in prison when he is sentenced later this year.
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