DRUG TRAFFICKER GETS LIFE

A Los Angeles man convicted of trafficking drugs into Southeast Missouri was sentenced to life in prison, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Willie L. Smith, 31, had been convicted in March of conspiring to distribute and manufacture cocaine base and possession with the intent to distribute.

U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber gave Smith a life sentence on Tuesday for conspiring to distribute cocaine base, another life sentence for conspiring to manufacture cocaine base, and a 10-year sentence for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn said.

Smith has been bringing narcotics into the area since 1986, an undercover agent with Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force said.

Smith appeared Tuesday before U.S. District Judge E. Richard Weber in Cape Girardeau. Weber said Smith was the "chief executive officer of a drug trafficking organization" that involved at least eight people.

At Smith's jury trial in February, a co-defendant testified that he had been recruited by Smith to Cape Girardeau from Los Angeles. Smith purchased bus tickets in July 1999 for himself, the co-defendant and a third person, known as "Aunt Betty," from Los Angeles to Memphis, Tenn., testimony showed.

Testimony showed they duct taped about 500 grams of cocaine divided in several packages to "Aunt Betty."

The three were met on July 6, 1999, in Memphis by members of Smith's family, and Smith took the cocaine, testimony showed. Later that day, police in Cape Girardeau stopped Smith, the co-defendant and a third man. The officer seized the cocaine, testimony showed.

Police also found about 200 grams of cocaine at Smith's house in Cape Girardeau.