City airport jet had role in celebrity lawyer’s coke bust

DANBURY — The crime was like something out of a B-movie with a cheesy, cliché of a script.

Drug smugglers, including celebrity attorney Todd Macaluso, were ready to use a private jet based out of Danbury Municipal Airport to move more than $ 13 million worth of cocaine through Central America.

But as they were ready to start the first leg of the trip, federal agents tipped off by a confidential informant moved in.

Macaluso made head- lines in 2011 when he successfully defended Casey Anthony against allegations that she murdered her 2-year- old daughter in Florida. Anthony was found not guilty after a trial that captivated the nation.

Macaluso, 55, made headlines again two years ago when he and his co-conspirators were getting ready to take off in the jet from Haiti for Ecuador, where they were going to pick up the drugs. The cocaine was bound for Honduras and eventually the U.S.

A San Diego, Calif., resident, Macaluso was found guilty of participating in the international drug ring after a trial last year. He was recently sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for the crime.

The attorney, according to court documents, had agreed to use a Falcon 10 jet that was rented from the Danbury-based Maule Group to transport 1,500 kilograms of cocaine — the limit of the plane’s cargo capacity — from Ecuador to Honduras.

The jet had been kept at Danbury Municipal Airport before it was confiscated by federal authorities. He had agreed to serve as the pilot for the trip in exchange for more than $ 150,000, court documents state.

While no drugs had actually been transported on the plane, federal agents confiscated the aircraft.

James Marquis, the managing director of the Maule Group, confirmed last year that Macaluso had rented the aircraft, a Falcon 10 jet, but did not have permission to fly the plane outside of the United States. Macaluso was a previous owner of the aircraft.

Marquis could not be reached for comment this week to see if the plane had since been returned. The Falcon 10 is a popular corporate jet that can accommodate up to eight passengers.