Pilot hauling cocaine gets 8 years
The pilot of a Canadian plane loaded with 290 pounds of cocaine that was forced to land at Ohio University’s airport was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison.
Sylvain Desjardins, 48, could have faced a mandatory minimum of 12 years in prison had he not pleaded guilty.
U.S. District Judge Algenon A. Marbley considered Desjardins’ acceptance of responsibility when imposing sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hunter said.
Desjardin must serve three years on supervised release after prison, during which he could be deported to Canada.
His codefendant and passenger in the airplane, David Ayotte, 46, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison earlier this month.
Their plane was headed to Canada on March 29 when it developed engine trouble and made an emergency landing at Ohio University’s Gordon K. Bush Airport. Authorities said the 132 bundles of cocaine had been stowed on one side of the aircraft, causing an engine to work harder and overheat while trying to keep the plane level.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection had been tracking the plane after it left the Bahamas and became suspicious when it diverted to the OU airport. The plane was destined for Ontario, Canada, officials said. The plane was met at the airport by Athens County deputies, university police officers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Both men, who are from Mirabel, a suburb of Montreal, pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. Desjardins also agreed to forfeit the plane, a 1969 twinengine Piper Navajo, to the U.S. government.