MIAMI (AP) – The attorney for a man investigators call the last of Miami’s “cocaine cowboys” says he’ll plead not guilty to drug smuggling after 26 years as a fugitive.
Lawyer Howard Srebnick said outside court Tuesday that 55-year-old Gustavo Falcon will formally enter the plea May 11. Falcon was arrested this month near Orlando, where he had been living under an assumed name with his wife.
Falcon vanished in 1991 when he, his older brother Augusto “Willie” Falcon, Salvador “Sal” Magluta and others were charged in a major federal indictment. The gang allegedly smuggled at least 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and made some $2 billion during the hyper-violent “Miami Vice” era.
Gustavo Falcon could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted on a cocaine conspiracy charge.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.