Man gets 35 years for running international drug ring

<p>A man who had been on the FBI's most-wanted list has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for running a multimillion-dollar international cocaine trafficking ring.</p><p>James S. Springette, 45, was also fined $4 million in Monday's sentencing.</p><p>Springette, who had faced a possible life sentence, was pleased with the sentence, defense attorney Pete Theodocion said.</p><p>Springette had estimated he made $33 million in the years he ran the cocaine trafficking operation between 1991 and 1999. Pleading guilty in September 2003, he admitted that he funneled tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States through the Virgin Islands.</p><p>It was a large operation involving airplanes, boats and even an ocean cargo freighter that was confiscated in 1996 with 6,000 kilograms of cocaine hidden on board.</p><p>Members of the trafficking ring were also involved in a shootout with British Virgin Islands police that blinded one officer who was shot in the eye. Officers had tried to stop a van carrying more than 2 tons of cocaine when the occupants opened fire with automatic weapons.</p><p>Springette was arrested for aiding in the prison escape of two Colombian citizens who reportedly took part in that shootout. But Springette escaped from a Colombian prison in March 2000.</p><p>He lived as a fugitive until his capture in Venezuela in November 2002.</p><p>Because Monday's sentence was handed down in federal court, Springette will not be able to get parole.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9c2c)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/6/144538