Major Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Georgia man ran drug trafficking ring that moved more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, worth more than $6 million

October 25, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Georgia man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his participation in a multi-state narcotics trafficking ring. The Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution prosecuted Aqeel Waleed Baruti for conspiring to traffic more than 400 grams cocaine and for money laundering. Baruti was considered the main supplier of more than 100 kilograms of cocaine – with a street value ranging from $6 to $8 million – to the narcotics ring which operated out of Jacksonville.

“Every time any type of narcotics is bought, sold or traded, lives are put in danger,” said Attorney General McCollum. “The spread of illegal drugs through our state must be stopped.”

Authorities determined that Baruti, 38, organized the shipment of cocaine from Georgia to Jacksonville to then be distributed throughout North Florida. As part of the investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency seized $100,000 in cash and four kilograms of cocaine, worth more than $400,000 in terms of street value. Baruti and nine co-conspirators were arrested in January 2006 and were all criminally charged by the Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Baruti was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine by Duval County Circuit Court Judge James Harrison. Baruti’s co-defendants have all pled guilty to various trafficking charges and most have already been sentenced to prison terms ranging from a few years in prison to more than a decade in prison. Two co-defendants remain yet to be sentenced.

Source: Florida Attorney General

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