http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/3-men-prison-time-selling-khat-new-york-article-1.2163751
Three men become first in New York history to be sentenced to prison
for selling khat
BY OREN YANIV
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, March 26, 2015, 6:20 PM
For the first time in New York history, peddlers of a
euphoria-inducing plant called khat will be sent to prison after three
leaders of an international distribution ring cut plea deals,
prosecutors said Thursday.
Khat kingpin Yadeta (Murad) Bekri, 24, will serve three years behind
bars and his U.S.-based managers Ahmed Adem and Bayan Yusuf, both 32,
will serve two years as part of an agreement with the state’s Attorney
General.
They were charged with 14 others last June for running the global
operation that imported khat mostly from Kenya and Ethiopia through
UPS and stored it in Rochester, Brooklyn and Queens. It was then
delivered to local distributors.
The amphetamine-like chewable has been used socially in Yemen and
other countries for centuries, but is banned in most of the Western
world.
"Khat is a dangerous and illegal drug with worldwide reach,” said
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. "Today's guilty pleas demonstrate
that those who flood our national and state borders with drugs will be
brought to justice."
Khat kingpin Yadeta (Murad) Bekri, 24, will serve three years in jail
for peddling the drug plant.
The three defendants pleaded guilty to attempted operating as a major
trafficker and will be sentenced next month, officials said. Bekri, of
England, whose Minnesotta-based girlfriend is accused of sending the
ill-gotten proceeds back to him, will also have to pay $150,000 in
restitution.
They were charged as part of a 215-count indictment. Cases are still
pending against 13 codefendants and one other remains at large.
Users of khat chew the plant’s leaves and stems to get a high from the juice.
The substance is exotic enough that a Brooklyn judge who handled the
indictment last summer didn’t hear of it before.
oyaniv_at_nydailynews.com
Received on Thu Mar 26 2015 - 21:02:06 EDT