The final defendant in a Mexican drug smuggling operation was sentenced Monday in federal court.
Armando Rodriguez-Ramirez, 24, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute marijuana intended for importation to the U.S.
Ramirez was part of an operation to bring approximately 12,000 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. He led Coast Guard patrols on a two hour chase across the ocean in July 2014 before surrendering.
A Coast Guard aircraft spotted the panga boat manned by Ramirez and one other boat about 180 miles off the coast of San Diego in 2014 and directed Coast Guard patrols in the water toward the pangas.
One of the boats was manned by two men and contained the marijuana. The other, smaller boat, was driven by Ramirez with the sole purpose of refueling the vessel that held the drugs.
The Coast Guard said they witnessed two of the men on the larger boat board Ramirez’s smaller boat, and the small boat took off, beginning the two hour pursuit across the ocean.
The Coast Guard had to fire warning shots to stop the panga, and all of the men were arrested soon after without incident. The three other men have since been sentenced to charges related to the drug smuggling operation.
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Ramirez’s defense attorney said the defendant was only involved because he was under threat of drug smugglers.
His attorney told the court he was a simple fisherman who had parents both ailing from cancer and a family of his own to care for.
Ramirez will be deported back to Mexico after he serves his sentence.
