Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Thereal lifestory of drug mule,87
As detectives watched the battered pickup truck head towards Detroit they believed the drug courier known only as “El Tata” was delivering a massive shipment of cocaine from a notorious Mexican cartel.
But when they pulled over the truck, at the wheel was frail and doddery 87-year-old great grandfather Leo Sharp. And in the back they found 104 kilos of the drug.
The decorated war veteran uttered three words: “Oh my God.”
Sharp’s extraordinary transformation from a renowned plant grower to one of America’s most successful drug couriers has now been turned into a film, The Mule, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.
In 2010 alone, Sharp delivered more than a ton of cocaine – enough for 7.25 million people to each snort a line – making himself $1million.
But his criminal career came to an end when, on his 90th birthday, he was sentenced to three years in jail. Sharp’s lawyer, Darryl Goldberg, argued during the OAP’S trial that he was suffering from dementia and turned to crime over money worries.
Mr Goldberg says: “I don’t think state troopers and highway patrolmen were suspicious of an elderly man driving cross-country.
“He was an older man. He was entrepreneurial and adventurous and he was likely suffering from dementia and the hallmark of dementia is poor decision-making.
“So when you put them all together it is a recipe for him making the very wrong decision in a moment of perceived financial weakness and perhaps that contributed into his desire to pursue something like this.”
Sharp’s story started very differently, however.
Chicago-based lawyer Mr Goldberg, recalls: “He was a Bronze Star recipient in World War Two, his time in the Army was a life story in itself.
“He fought in Italy at the famous battle at Monte Battaglia. If you read the description of the battle it is fascinating as bayonets and flame throwers were used in hand-to-hand combat. It is remarkable that people survived. His service sparked the travel bug in him and he was quite the world traveller.”
After the war Sharp started a travel business and at one point even launched his own airline.
But a passion for flowers brought him rock-star status among fans of daylilies – small trumpet-like flowers that come in an array of colours.
On a farm in Michigan City, Indiana, he cultivated more than 180 different varieties and would attend conferences across the US dressed either all in black or white, where fans would queue to meet him.
Neighbours recalled buses pulling up outside his 26-acre farm, packed with growers wanting to buy his plants. But the coming of the internet caused his customers to buy online elsewhere.
With his business failing, it is believed one of his Mexican farmhands introduced Sharp to the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, headed by the ruthless Joaquin Guzman, known as El Chapo. The kingpin, currently on trial in New York, shipped an alleged 500 tons of cocaine. Yet elderly Sharp quickly emerged as the cartel’s most effective mule.
In his beaten-up Lincoln truck he would transport 100 to 300 kilos of cocaine from the Us-mexico border and drive sedately up to Detroit.
Members of the cartel sneered at him behind his back for his advancing age and gave him the nickname El Tata – The Grandfather.
He sometimes got confused when he tried to find the secret stash houses, so cartel members would be sent to meet him at motorway exits and guide him to warehouses.
When he wanted to quit, they responded by putting a gun to his head and threatened his family.
His lawyer Mr Goldberg enjoyed hearing the stories of his welltravelled client. He said: “He was a gentleman farmer, he did not live an extravagant life.
“Despite the cognitive decline he knew what he was getting into.
“There came a point where he was less enthused about the process a where they him. He ha to his head. largest mul and base numbers, he mentally su
Drug En Detroit were tities of coca by the legen constantly
t
and that’s y threatened ad a gun put . He was the le in Detroit ed on the e was monuubstantial.” nforcement Agents in e astounded at the quanaine flooding the city, led ndary El Tata – a name mentioned on the wiretapped phones of gang members. Special agent Jeff Moore, played by Bradley Cooper in the film, had spent a year trying to trace El Tata but to no avail. But thanks to the wiretaps, they knew the drug runner was making a delivery to Detroit in October 2011. The truck was spotted near Kalamazoo and soon a host of unmarked police and DEA cars were trailing the mysterious mule.
El Tata was driving erratically and at one point cut across traffic to leave the highway, sparking fears he knew he was being followed.
But he was just picking up French fries and a drink from a drive-through. At 5.45pm a State Trooper, who was in on the operation, pulled him over for a routine traffic stop.
Out of the truck stumbled a scruffy old man, cupping his ear so he could hear the officer’s commands.
The trooper’s dashcam records the old man saying: “What’s going on, officer? At age 87, I want to know why I’m being stopped.”
A drug-sniffing dog was brought in and immediately drew attention to the back of the truck. When police said they were going to search, Sharp replied: “Why don’t you just kill me and let me just leave the planet.” In the back were five duffel bags containing 104 kilos of cocaine.
Sharp was later given three years in a jail specialising in the medical care of long-term inmates and as part of the deal had to hand over $500,000 and a property in Florida.
“He said he was sorry for what happened” Mr Goldberg says. “He was quite matter of fact and nonchalant about it. He told the judge at sentencing, ‘I’m terribly sorry but it happened and I can’t change it’.”
Sharp served just one year of his sentence and died after 16 months of freedom in December 2016.
He is buried alongside the military heroes of the Second World War, Korean and Vietnam wars in a military graveyard in Hawaii.
Mr Goldberg says: “I enjoyed spending time with him. I found him fascinating on many levels. There was a lot of knowledge and wisdom to be shared and he had three incredible life stories built into one.”
The Mule is out now.
I enjoyed spending time with him. He had 3 incredible life stories DARRYL GOLDBERG LAWYER FOR LEO SHARP