PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man who was “directly responsible” for moving more than 400 kilograms of cocaine from the United States into Canada will be sentenced in U.S. District Court on Thursday, and prosecutors are asking for a prison sentence.
The drugs that Kevin Maurice Landers moved had a street value of least $12 million in the United States and in Canada would have been worth more than $24 million, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant United States Attorney Scott M. Kerin.
The government is asking that Landers be given a 2-year prison sentence.
“Despite all of the things in his favor, given the gravity of the offense and the extremely large volume of drugs he was transporting, this defendant must be sentenced to prison,” Kerin wrote.
Landers pled guilty in June 2015 to one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.
According to court documents, on December 5, 2014, Landers was arrested transporting 42 kilograms of cocaine. He was on his way to Canada. When he was being interviewed, he admitted that he had made approximately 20 deliveries of cocaine in the past year, and that each delivery consisted of approximately 20 to 40 kilograms of cocaine.
“The amount of cocaine the defendant was personally responsible for transporting is astronomical,” Kerin wrote.
Landers admitted driving from British Columbia to Portland, obtaining the cocaine, and then driving back to Canada. He was transporting the cocaine for others. Landers admitted he was paid approximately $10,000 for each trip. In total, he was “conservatively responsible for transporting over 400 kilogram s of cocaine in a one -year period,” according to Kerin.
In the United States, cocaine can be obtained for $30,000 a kilogram, although the price does fluctuate. In Canada, cocaine can be sold for upwards of $60,000 per kilogram.
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