DETROIT — For convicted drug mule Leo Sharp, turning 90 on Monday turned out to be quite the letdown: he was sentenced to three years in federal prison on his birthday — and threatened to kill himself over the punishment.
Sharp, who spent his milestone birthday in federal court, urged the judge to keep him out of prison, saying he regrets his crime: hauling nearly $3 million worth of cocaine across the country for a Mexican drug cartel.
"I'm really heartbroken I did what I did. But it's done," Sharp said, stressing: "I won't live in prison, I'm just going to end my life if I end up there."
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds said she couldn't justify not sending Sharp to prison considering the seriousness of his crime: He was a courier for a massive drug ring that ran a cocaine pipeline between Mexico and Detroit for several years.
"It's not a victimless crime," Edmunds said. "This is a huge drug operation, and Mr. Sharp was right in the middle of it.
"It would be weak for me to say, 'Well, he's an old man ...' I think respect for the law requires there be some custody in this case."
Sharp's lawyer, Darryl Goldberg, pleaded with Edmunds to keep his client, who suffers from dementia, out of prison.
He argued that Sharp is a war hero who doesn't deserve to be locked up and that it would be "cruel and thoughtless" to send a frail, old man to prison.
"Mr. Sharp is part of a great generation … before we were even born, he was on top of mountains fighting Nazis," Goldberg said, arguing prison is the wrong place for a man like Sharp. "That's not how we honor our heroes whether they've fallen from grace or (not)."
Goldberg also argued that his client was manipulated and threatened by drug lords and that he tried to get out of the drug ring.
"This old man was brainwashed … when he wanted to quit, they put a gun to his head," Goldberg said, adding that he believes his client is one of the oldest defendants sentenced to serve time in federal prison.
The government disputed claims that Sharp didn't know what he was doing.
"This was not a, 'Whoops I stumbled into this,'" said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline. "He is a willing participant."
Graveline noted that Sharp would be facing a significantly stiffer sentence — up to 210 months — if he were younger, so the recommended five-year prison sentence is warranted.
"This is a very serious case," Graveline said, stressing that Sharp's crimes harmed many, especially drug addicts and people killed in drug crimes. "Mr. Sharp needs to receive some prison time."
Edmunds agreed, noting that if she didn't send Sharp to prison for his crime, drug dealers would get the wrong message, being: "If you want to inoculate your organization from punishment … get an elderly person to do your deliveries for you, because they're not going to go to prison for it."
After his sentencing hearing, Sharp was released to the custody of his stepson and will begin his prison sentence at a later date, which hasn't been set.
In addition to serving time, Sharp agreed to pay the government $500,000 and give up his Florida property, according to a forfeiture order. But he will not give up his home or farm, the order said.
Sharp, of Michigan City, Ind., was arrested in 2011 during a traffic stop on I-94 near Ann Arbor. He was caught with nearly $3 million worth of cocaine in his pickup. Following his arrest, Sharp initially made up a story in court about what happened, telling a magistrate that he was forced at gunpoint to haul the cocaine. He eventually pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy.
Sharp was among 18 defendants indicted in the scheme. Unbeknownst to Sharp's co-conspirators, the Drug Enforcement Administration was monitoring their phone calls. Their conversations led them to Sharp.
