PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man described by Portland, Ore., law enforcement officials as the kingpin of a Crips gang cocaine-trafficking ring has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones on Monday called 58-year-old James “Lonnie” Yoakum the brains behind an operation that gang investigators say used a well-known Portland barbecue restaurant as a front to launder money. Authorities say that each month the ring sold about 10 kilograms or $300,000 worth of cocaine.
Arrested last August, Yoakum pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine.
Yoakum is the first of eight defendants to be sentenced; the rest followed his lead, pleading guilty to various drug conspiracy charges.
