Snowshoe drug-smuggling ringleader gets 30 months

SEATTLE – A Canadian man has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after being convicted of leading a snowshoe smuggling ring that attempted to bring marijuana from British Columbia to Washington state on treacherous mountain trails.

Richard Bafaro, 45, tearfully apologized in court Friday, saying that he had been forced to pay $70,000 to drug suppliers after he lost a prior load of B.C. bud in the wilderness, leading him to smuggle more marijuana. Bafaro said that in one of the trips to the wilderness to try to find the load, one of his friends was badly injured and had to be airlifted out of the Canadian forest.

Five men were arrested with links to Bafaro’s operation and were sentenced to prison terms between eight months and one year. Bafaro was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He was arrested in April.