SAL~Miami cocaine kingpin
 

gets life in prison for bribing juror

By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau
Posted January 23 2003

Sal Magluta, the reputed drug kingpin who dodged government authorities for decades, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

Magluta, before being convicted of money laundering and bribing a juror in his 1996 drug-trafficking trial, was sentenced to the maximum term of 205 years in federal prison and fined $62.9 million.











"For over two decades Mr. Magluta has poisoned our district with cocaine he trafficked," U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez told U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz in his request for the stiffest jail term. "Mr. Magluta indeed bought himself an acquittal. In doing so, he caused grave damage to our system of justice. Today's sentence will send the unmistakable message that justice in our court cannot be bought."

A federal court jury convicted Magluta in August of conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiracy to disobey a court order that he not spend any drug proceeds on his defense. The jury cleared him of ordering the murders of three witnesses -- sparing him a mandatory life sentence.

But the man authorities once described as a cocaine cowboy will serve a life term because Seitz ordered him to serve consecutive sentences on 12 counts.

The sentences ranged from five years on one count to 20 years on each of nine counts; Magluta also received a 10-year sentence on each of two counts. The fine includes $15 million and a house that the jury determined Magluta had to forfeit because they were linked to a conspiracy to launder drug trafficking proceeds.

In an emotional speech sprinkled with quotes from the Bible, a Scottish proverb and other refrains, Magluta, 48, apologized, to his family, the community, the country and the court.

"If I were not to share my thoughts I would have been less than honest before your honor," he said. "There's wrongs, and plenty of them, that I have committed."

He choked up as he addressed his family and friends, who filled up three rows in the courtroom. He told his daughter to "have faith. I will walk you down the aisle one day."

To his parents, his aunt and his uncle, Magluta said, "You deserved much better for the way you all raised me. I have failed you in every way possible, and for that I am so sorry."

However, Magluta did not detail the "wrongs" he committed and said he was speaking against his attorneys' wishes. One of his attorneys, Benson Weintraub, asked the judge for a more lenient sentence because Magluta had accepted responsibility.

"Ordinarily I might do that, Mr. Weintraub, because I do believe I have seen a remarkable step forward by Mr. Magluta," Seitz said. But the judge said that leniency was not an option because Magluta had decades to take different paths in his life and stuck to crime.

"You did not choose those paths," Seitz told Magluta. "You are an individual of great potential, of incredible gifts ... and it saddens me greatly that the choices that you made have squandered the maximum use of those talents."

Magluta's attorneys, who said they would file an appeal, had sought a sentence of about 20 years that took into account the 10 years Magluta already has spent in prison on bail jumping, passport fraud and other charges. They cited the jury's decision not to convict Magluta of murder in their pleas.

Instead the judge chose what amounted to a murder sentence for nonviolent crimes, defense attorney Jack Denaro said.

In the 1980s, Magluta and his partner Willie Falcon, were the masterminds of a huge cocaine enterprise that used a boat-racing team and a softball team as cover for a cocaine importing operation that spanned the globe, prosecutors say. Since 1989, federal authorities have been after Magluta and Falcon, accusing them of making more than $2 billion in drugs between 1978 and 1991.

Federal prosecutors tried Magluta in 1996 on drug trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life, but the jury acquitted him. Afterwards, federal investigators determined Magluta had paid a $500,000 bribe to the jury foreman and $3 million to another juror.

Since then, Magluta has attended church and participated in Bible study, two character witnesses testified on Wednesday.

Rhett Cili, a teaching leader for Bible Study Fellowship International, said he visits with Magluta every week.

"He is a loving, caring individual," Cili said. "Mr. Magluta is a man that needs mercy."

That perception of Magluta was countered by prosecutor Michael Davis, who told Seitz that Magluta's actions brought "harm and ruin" to many lives. Magluta's drug trafficking created addicts and some of those addicts went on to commit violent crimes, he said.

"He sits here with blood on his hands," Davis said.


:fish: :fish:

los muchacos

Jaun?? or even Juan?

308 views, and only 4 replies
 

Silence is golden!:cool:

It's a little too late for the silence to have been golden. Would have been interesting to see the old school boys getting hit with constant new rule changes. never mind that would not have ever happened.

Moral of the story
 

Don't try to race offshore unless you have unlimited funds:D :D :D

FREE WILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lucy
[
B]FREE WILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!! [/B][

Good one!! (This may be a topic next month)

i graduated high school in miami w/ his son chris and nephew in 1991, we used to play raquet ball all the time... now i know why he was driving a brand new 300zx twin turbo at age 17... good kid he really didnt know wha twas going on i think cause he was living w/ his grand parents since he was young

maybe hell gat lucky and end up as bennys cellmate so that they can have a lot to talk about:)

As i recall, there was never a Juan as the navigator... maybe im wrong...but... i was there...

how about doug?

Re: SAL~Miami cocaine kingpin
 

Lucy,

I havnt seen doug in years. The last time i talked to him he was at some small shop on Ochechobee..this was '89 i think. Did get word though that Marshall is doing well considering..... He is in Miami now

tc

What race team did he used to belong to?

hmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!

did somebody say cocaine?!?
;)

Marshall started with a boat called "Macho", a 24' Pantera, in 1980. We won the national champ. in 82 with that boat. We then raced "seahawk" p-68 together. He went on to buy the old "Manta" and changed the name to "blackjack".

Dont worry about the 20 kilos of "ballas" in the front of the boat!:D :D

Does anyone have any pics of the p-68 Seahawk boat?

In point of fact.......
The saga of Sal and Willie is what makes truth much more compelling than fiction.......

You could make an amazing movie simply by telling the facts in this tale. From a strong Latino heritage to the streets of Miami, throw in a little Noriega, a few dozen major Florida Banks, world class boats and driving talent, incredible wealth and criminal transactions, and too very compelling personalities surrounded by a cadre of "team mates" who , themselves are doing extended stints at "camp".

Those days make today's sport, even with all the bling, seem like nursery school by comparison.

You will probably never see this kind of criminal empire again....except in Congress.

Via Con Dios...... to the "boys".

T2x

So true...

They made over $2 BILLION DOLLARS? Doesn't that put Ben Kramer to shame in terms of cash? THAT IS SOME SERIOUS MONEY, and that was the 80's.

Great post, Turbines Suck...

I wonder what boat they would run if they would be racing today? If you recall they were at 110 mph almost twenty years ago!! second place is the first loser. viva seahawk and peace be with you willy and salvador.

In person they were good people..
different times...
different people..

He also got mentioned in the Miami Vice Movie in 06' did anybody catch it???

It was when they were on th rooftop looking at the FLIR video.

They got off lightly in my opinion. Drug traffickers deserve to have all the pain inflicted on them that their product causes the families of their addicts. Fvck them.

Tell that to their victims

Truth is.......

There are tragedies caused by addiction that afflict all walks of life.

Addictions to drugs.......

Addictions to PRESCRIPTION drugs

Addictions to porn.....

and addictions to alcohol........which has created as many or more broken lives than all of the others combined.

Do you curse Larry Flynt, Budweiser, Smirnoff, or Schering Plough with the same passion?

Look...... in no way do I condone drug dealing.........

My point here is that too many people on this site have taken "holier than thou" positions when it comes to these guys..... while at the same time condoning other forms of "dealer".

Some of the most respected guys in the performance industry were not too righteous when it came to befriending, partying and doing (boat) business with them.....and I include myself in that...only difference is I don't deny it.

The "cowboys'" criminal acts pale in comparison to the fraud, damage, and perversion perpetrated on all of us by the likes of Pelosi, Frank, and Rangel. Yet half of our population votes for these crooks each election day. If you know your history you may remember that our government actually engineered a "guns down/drugs back" air lift in cahoots with one of boat racing's more colorful champions back in the day.

The boys are in jail paying for their crimes...and probably deservedly....but aim your venom at the real bad guys who walk around scott free, destroying lives, and amassing fortunes while protected by some twisted political agenda....

Oh yeah...one more thing...they really were a lot of fun to be around.....and could flat out drive race boats like nobody's business.

T2x

Very well said T2x....

Glorify thier lifestyle and actions all you want..... make comparisions to the elected officials too... maybe some young person reading this will get the idea that the end justify's the means and follow suit....but just because they liked fast boats doesn;t make them heros... the got what they deserved.... just too little too late.... imo

I never "glorified" them...I am just reacting to a lot of "condemnations" from people who didn't know them.

Let he who is without sin cast the first....etc.

Truth is they were probably loaded on cocaine and felt bulletproof, which made them a danger to all around.

Truth is that Coors Light avatar is a lot more dangerous to the "yoot of America" than this thread.

Also...I don't think I ever saw them high......

If you weren't there, you are shooting at ghosts.

Seen plenty of drug money in racing over the last 40+ years (motor racing)

With all due respect, nothing you have to say is likely to change my opinion of drug traffickers.

Without a doubt, 2 of the best people to have known..

One day, they might be around again...

:drink:

Fair enough....and given the ridiculous events on the Mexican border today I fully understand....but, in the end...whose fault is that?

I have a lot of years in the criminal justice system...outside...not inside...lol...those were just different times. Different actions and attitudes were accepted more so than today. Those were the real "go-go" days. I've known a lot of bad guys who were a lot of fun to sit and talk to.....one or two played the game back in the day. Love 'em or hate 'em they had a love of the sport and were good boat drivers. As for the rest....business is business...just like everywhere else. They played and they paid....just like all the rest.

Whenever there's discussion about the old school drug associates that frequented the type boats we like I get the feeling there are a lot of wannabes around also.
Anyone that thinks a person who was involved in drug dealing at a very hight level can be a nice guy away from work isn't thinking clearly. Drugs do kill and the suppliers are killers also.

Some things are better left in the past.