Colombian man pleads guilty to cocaine charges

A Colombian man accused of drug-running about two tons of cocaine that prosecutors say was bound for the U.S. pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court.

But Leopoldo Caiceda Caiceda, 57, questioned a federal magistrate about why he was in Fort Myers facing charges when he was caught onboard the boat off Costa Rica. Caiceda, of Buenaventura, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.

Caiceda and three other Colombians were arrested after the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted their wooden fishing vessel on Dec. 5, 2005, in international waters off the coast of Costa Rica. On board, Coast Guard officers found about 3,500 pounds of cocaine, prosecutors have said.

“But I was not caught here,” Caiceda said through an interpreter during his plea hearing in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers. “But I was caught in Costa Rica?”

Caiceda, who said he has a first-grade education, didn’t understand why U.S. authorities took him into custody, and brought him to Florida.

“Despite the fact you were caught in Costa Rica or off the coast of Costa Rica, you were subject to the control of the United States at that time,” U.S. Magistrate Sheri Polster Chappell said.

In pleading guilty, Caiceda said he didn’t know what was to happen to the drugs after he helped transport them to Costa Rica on the boat called the “Kanito.” Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy said the boatload of drugs ultimately was bound for the U.S.

A sentencing hearing has not been set.

Victor Manuel Lemos Vasquez, 37, of Calle-Primera, Mauro Luis Badillo Lozano, 41, of Bahia Solano, and Jaime Beltran, 53, of Cali, were indicted in December along with Caiceda on one count each of possessing cocaine and one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. Badillo Lozano and Beltran have already pleaded guilty.

Lemos Vasquez was sentenced earlier this month to 135 months in prison on those charges. He is appealing that sentence.

“I didn’t have any work and (another, unindicted man) came there to my town,” Caiceda said.

Chappell told him any money he was paid for drug-running, or anything he bought with it, may be forfeited after his plea.

“What they give me I already spent. On the ailments of my parents and the studies of my children,” he explained through his interpreter. “I know that I am not innocent.”