|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Nov. 3, 2009
$30,000 BUNDLE THAT SMELLED LIKE POT SENDS CALIFORNIA MAN TO FEDERAL PRISON
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Leon B. Livingston, 54, San Diego, Calif., has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for drug trafficking, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.
Livingston pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. In his plea, Livingston admitted that from December 2003 through December 2006 he conspired with co-defendants Neal Limtiaco, Glenn Damato and others to distribute marijuana.
On Aug. 10, 2004, during a routine inspection of mail parcels by the Postal Inspection Service, a dog alerted to a package mailed from Mark McPherson in Olathe, Kan., to Livingston in San Diego. The package contained $30,000 in cash. Investigators served a search warrant at Livingston’s home in San Diego and seized marijuana plants. Investigators determined that McPherson and Damato started purchasing marijuana from Livingston in 2003 and continued until Livingston was arrested in August 2004. Other members of the conspiracy were paid to transport loads of 150 to 200 pounds of marijuana from California to other locations including Grand Junction, Colo., Waukesha, Wis., and Chicago, Ill.
Other defendants include:
Glenn J. Damato, who is set for sentencing Dec. 14, 2009.
Neal B. Limtiaco, who is set for sentencing Dec. 14, 2009.
Mark C. McPherson, who was sentenced to 97 months.
Harry Michael Bower, who was sentenced to 57 months.
Thomas Starr, who was sentenced to 41 months.
Welch commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Smith and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel for their work on the case.
##