Canadian "King of Pot" gets 27 years for billion-dollar marijuana ring
A New York court sentenced Canadian Jimmy Cournoyer, the "King of Pot", to 27 years in prison on 20 August 2014 for moving an estimated 109 tons of marijuana into the United States through a billion-dollar network tied to the Hells Angels, the Bonanno family and the Sinaloa cartel. He had been arrested in Mexico in 2012.
On 20 August 2014 a New York court sentenced Jimmy Cournoyer, a 34-year-old Canadian known as the “King of Pot”, to 27 years in prison for trafficking an estimated 109 tons of marijuana from Canada into the United States.[1][2]US prosecutors said his network distributed at least $1 billion in illegal drugs, moving about 450 kg of marijuana into New York a week and corrupting officials to control ports and border checkpoints.[1]Cournoyer had been arrested in Mexico in 2012.[1]
The network
His group grew hydroponic marijuana in British Columbia and trucked it across Canada with the Hells Angels, using the proceeds to buy cocaine from Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel for distribution in Canada; he also had ties to New York’s Bonanno crime family and Montreal’s Rizzuto organisation.[1]Prosecutors said he kept a $2 million fund to silence informants.[1]Fellow Canadian and UFC champion Georges St-Pierre wrote to the judge asking for leniency for his “good friend”.[2]Prosecutors said Cournoyer moved more than 200,000 pounds of cannabis into the US with help from the Hells Angels and the Bonanno family.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The sources give trafficking totals, not an amount seized in this case, so no seizure figure is recorded.
One source reports 109 tons trafficked overall; another reports more than 200,000 pounds moved with two partners' help; both measures are retained as stated.
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Charged 5Sentenced 1Prison 18 years initial confinement and 10 years extended supervisionDeaths 1
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