Barrow man gets 5 years in cocaine case

ATHENS - A Barrow County man who conspired to import cocaine into the country has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison.

Court records show that U-S District Court Judge Callie Granade of Alabama sentenced Gary Steven Krist of Auburn to five years and five months at a prison where Krist can receive drug and alcohol treatment.

The 61-year-old Krist was arrested last March at a private marina in Baldwin County, Ala., after he returned from Colombia. Authorities say they found 14 kilograms of cocaine on a boat he had rented and four illegal immigrants who paid $6,000 each to come to America. Krist pleaded guilty to the drug charge and to bringing in and harboring aliens.

Krist's stepson -- Henry Jackson Greeson -- also pleaded guilty in the case. Both men agreed to testify against an alleged co-conspirator -- Antonio Bryan Joseph -- who since has pleaded guilty.

After the arrests, drug investigators with the Barrow County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at Krist's house, where they say they found an underground cocaine laboratory.

Krist has a long criminal history. In 1968, Krist and a woman kidnapped an Emory University student and buried her alive in a capsule for 83 hours. She was found alive by investigators after her father paid a $500,000 ransom.