Had Purchased Airplanes Used To Transport Large Quantities Of Narcotics

A man who had purchased two airplanes in Virginia that were used to transport tons of cocaine between Guatemala and Honduras was sentenced Thursday in U.S. Federal Court.

Fernando Chang Monroy was arrested September 10th last year in Guatemala City, Guatemala and charged with buying airplanes in the U.S. and using them to transport the drugs. He pleaded guilty in March, admitting that he had purchased the aircraft in Virginia for the purpose of smuggling contraband. “In his role as purchaser of the two aircraft, Chang Monroy’s actions involved the United States, and more specifically, the Eastern District of Virginia, in the dark underworld of international cocaine smuggling,” wrote prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum to the court.

The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that, under federal sentencing guidelines, Monroy faced more than 27 years in federal prison for his role as the aircraft purchaser.

Authorities had sought a prison sentence of a little more than 11 years, saying he was not a leader or organizer in the operation, but merely an aircraft broker. The final sentence was just 22 years, according to a report appearing on The Daily Progress online.

In his guilty plea, Chang Monroy admitted that he had arranged for the shipment of the aircraft ... both Beechcraft King Airs ... through Venezuelan air space with the cooperation of the Venezuelan military by recruiting an individual "who coordinated with corrupt radar operators to avoid interception by the Venezuelan military," according to the court documents.

Chang Monroy is 37-years-old and has no prior criminal record.

FMI: www.vaed.uscourts.gov