NYC cocaine ring kingpin gets 20 years to life
Feb 29, 2012, 9:05 PM
NEW YORK (AP) – A New York cocaine ring boss once cultivated his image so avidly that he kept a framed photo of his face superimposed on a shot of the drug lord from the 1983 film “Scarface.”
Now, Ceferino “Papo” (seh-fur-EE’-noh PAH’-poh) Perez will spend 20 years to life behind bars.
Perez was sentenced Wednesday. The 45-year-old pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to a high-level drug trafficking charge.
Defense lawyer Peter Batalla (bah-TY’-ah) says the resolution was appropriate for the case.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office says Perez and about two dozen others formed the drug-world equivalent of a pizza delivery service in East Harlem.
Prosecutors say workers were organized in two eight-hour shifts and carried business cards emblazoned “General Electronics.”
Prosecutors say 21 other defendants also pleaded guilty. Two are headed for trial.
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