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Jose Antonio Ledgard, the East Coast chieftain of a far-flung cocaine smuggling network, pleaded guilty Friday to drug charges as prosecutors moved nearer to closing out a case that began with 98 defendants.
Under terms of a plea bargain, the Miami man faces 10 to 14 years in prison when he is sentenced later this spring by U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving. He pleaded guilty to operating a continuing criminal enterprise and to using a telephone in the cocaine scheme.
Ledgard also forfeited about $200,000 in assets and agreed to accept deportation to Peru after serving his sentence, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Maria Arroyo.
About 20 defendants in the case entered guilty pleas this week, Arroyo said, leaving 17 at large and about 10 still facing trial. More than 50 defendants have pleaded guilty, or agreed to plead guilty, to felony charges in the case, and 20 have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, she said.
Prosecutors said the smuggling ring reached from Colombia and Peru to both coasts of the United States.
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