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> 87 yr old City man claims he was forced to haul Cocaine
Southsider2k12
post Oct 26 2011, 08:17 AM
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http://www.indystar.com/article/20111025/N...t%7CFRONTPAGE33

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DETROIT -- An 87-year-old Indiana man arrested with 104 bricks of cocaine in his pickup truck told a judge Monday that he was forced at gunpoint to carry the load.

During a boisterous appearance in court, Leo Sharp had trouble keeping quiet, even after he was warned that anything he said could be used against him. There were grins and occasional laughter from lawyers, spectators and U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Randon.

Federal prosecutors wanted to keep Sharp locked up, but the Michigan City, Ind., man was released on bond three days after he was stopped for improper lane use while driving alone on I-94 near Chelsea, 60 miles west of Detroit.

With the help of a drug-sniffing dog, state troopers discovered 104 brick-sized packages of cocaine Friday, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"You're dealing with a man forced to do what I did by gunpoint," Sharp told the judge.

A criminal complaint signed by a DEA agent is thin on details, and there was no mention in court about Sharp's destination. The judge had to speak loudly after Sharp said he had lost some hearing during a war. Sharp did not elaborate.

Sharp asked that he be allowed to get medicine that apparently had been seized by officers.

"I could have a stroke," he said.

At another point, Sharp said he probably could read better than anyone in the courtroom and that he's writing a book. He "absolutely" promised to return to court on Nov. 10. "You're the boss," Sharp told the judge, who ordered a mental-health evaluation.

"I'm sorry, sir, to be so troublesome," Sharp said.

Outside court, he told The Associated Press he grows lilies on a 46-acre Indiana farm.

"I love plants. It's a serious love -- except the crap that makes you high," Sharp said. "I'm innocent. You'll learn about it."

Defense attorney Ray Richards said he thinks the amount of cocaine tops 200 pounds.

"This case is going to be challenging," Richards said.

DEA spokesman Rich Isaacson said he couldn't discuss details of the investigation but said the role of an 87-year-old man was unusual.

"Drug-trafficking groups use all kinds of measures to avoid detection by law enforcement. Using an older gentleman could be another strategy," he said.
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Southsider2k12
post Oct 8 2013, 11:08 AM
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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013100...|text|FRONTPAGE

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Drug mule, 89, pleads guilty in federal conspiracy case

Oralandar Brand-Williams and Rob Snell
The Detroit News
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Sharp (U.S. Marshals Service)

Detroit — An 89-year-old drug mule pleaded guilty Tuesday in a move that spares him from standing trial in a federal drug conspiracy case.

Leo Sharp of Michigan City, Ind., appeared Tuesday in front of U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds, one week before the start of his trial, to admit his involvement of hauling 228 pounds of cocaine across the country for one of Mexico’s most powerful drug rings.

“In my life, it’s the only time it ever happened,” said Sharp, referring to being in trouble. However, he later admitted to an incident in Mexico years ago.

“I was taking motion pictures of a prostitute and they put me in jail,” he said.

U.S. Assistant Attorney Christopher Graveline is asked that Sharp, who is hard of hearing, be sentenced to five years in a Minnesota prison with medical facilities. Sharp also must forfeit $500,000 in property owned in Florida in the deal.

Sharp faces sentencing before Edmunds on Feb. 11. Dressed in a black suit, Sharp told the judge it wouldn’t make much sense for her to sentence him to a lengthy prison term, such as for 10 years, a sentence also given for conspiracy to deliver narcotics.

“I won’t live that long,” said Sharp as he stood next to his attorney, Darryl Goldberg, who said he plans to ask Edmunds to give his client less than five years when she sentences him in February.

Sharp, a World War II decorated U.S. Army veteran with a Bronze Star, was charged two years ago and accused of hauling cocaine across the country for one of Mexico’s most powerful drug rings in a case that involved 19 defendants and gained notoriety because of Sharp’s age and the mutton-chopped man’s colorful appearance in federal court.

Sharp was pulled over in Washtenaw County in 2011, based on a tip to state police by federal drug agents. Sharp's attorney had said the drug seizure was illegal because authorities had no probable cause to stop him. But Edmunds earlier this year ruled in favor of the government.

A trooper said Sharp was upset when the drugs were discovered and declared, “Just kill me and let me leave this planet.”

Prosecutors said Sharp was no rookie when it came to hauling drugs.

As far back as 2000, Sharp had been working as a drug courier for Chicago-area drug dealers, according to federal court records.

Alleged drug dealers working for the Sinaloa cartel based in Sinaloa, Mexico, jokingly called Sharp "grandfather" and the "old man" and expressed concern about the alleged drug mule's mental state, according to conversations secretly recorded by federal wiretaps.

During a 2011 court appearance, Sharp gave a rambling speech, telling a federal judge he was forced at gunpoint to haul the drugs, said he once owned two 747 airliners and received a Bronze Star for bravery in Italy during World War II. He also complained about hearing loss caused by cannon fire during “the war” before being cut off by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Randon.

“Mr. Sharp, we are trying to get you home to Indiana,” Randon said, warning him to keep quiet. “Help me help you.”

Sharp is a renowned horticulturalist and owner of a 46-acre farm where he grows 168 registered varieties of daylilies. One variety, the Brookwood Bairn, is known for its triangle-shaped petals and bright-yellow, red and green colors.

bwilliams@detroitnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013100...3#ixzz2h9RI7F00
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southsiderMMX   87 yr old City man claims he was forced to haul Cocaine   Oct 26 2011, 08:17 AM
southsiderMMX   http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-...0,434...   Nov 10 2011, 08:12 AM
southsiderMMX   http://www.detnews.com/article/20111108/ME...36;10...   Nov 10 2011, 08:47 AM
southsiderMMX   http://www.freep.com/article/20120302/NEWS...|text...   Mar 5 2012, 08:39 AM
southsiderMMX   http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=n......   Mar 22 2012, 12:27 PM
Southsider2k12   http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-drug-evidenc...,0,10...   Apr 29 2013, 08:45 AM
Southsider2k12   http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013100...-guil...   Oct 4 2013, 01:17 PM
ChickenCityRoller   I was forced, lol.   Oct 4 2013, 02:16 PM
Southsider2k12   http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013100...|text...   Oct 8 2013, 11:08 AM
Southsider2k12   http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...d2c06...   Apr 30 2014, 01:10 PM
Southsider2k12   3 years. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lapor...   May 8 2014, 07:51 AM
diggler   http://tbo.com/storyimage/TB/20140507/ARTICLE/1405...   May 8 2014, 10:45 AM
Southsider2k12   He was 87 when he was busted, and is 90 now.   May 8 2014, 11:44 AM
diggler   Had no idea that MC residents could even live that...   May 8 2014, 01:03 PM
Tim   Had no idea that MC residents could even live tha...   May 10 2014, 12:02 AM
Ang   My grandpa is 93 and still mows his own lawn! ...   May 8 2014, 03:09 PM
Southsider2k12   The NYTimes has picked up Sharp's story. http...   Jun 12 2014, 12:37 PM
Southsider2k12   A new twist on this story. http://abc7chicago.com...   Feb 1 2018, 02:47 PM
diggler   What a wonderful way to supplement one's socia...   Feb 3 2018, 08:26 AM
CorruptionKiller   http://www.indystar.com/article/20111025/N...t%7C...   Dec 30 2018, 03:32 PM
Southsider2k12   I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this.   Dec 31 2018, 10:19 PM


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