Trucker gets 21 years for smuggling 10 tons of pot
Trucker gets 21 years for smuggling 10 tons of pot
By Greg Moran
Originally published April 25, 2011 at 4:41 p.m., updated April 25, 2011 at 6:06 p.m.
SAN DIEGO — Greg Moran • U-T
The driver of a tractor-trailer loaded with almost 10 tons of marijuana that prosecutors say was brought into the U.S. through a sophisticated tunnel that started in Mexico and ended in an Otay Mesa warehouse was sentenced Monday in federal court to 21 years and eight months in prison.
The sentence for Carlos Cunningham, 28, of Oceanside reflected not only his past criminal record — he was convicted twice before, in 2002 and 2005, for smuggling drugs — but also the immense size of the load of drugs he had.
U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns, a former federal prosecutor, was taken aback by the haul. Throughout the hearing, Burns emphasized the sheer amount of the drugs seized and said it was staggering.
“This is a sit-up-and-take-notice amount of narcotics, even in a district where we have become jaded by very large amounts,â€
