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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pot pilot sentenced to 10 years by judge

Man convicted of flying drugs into U.S.

Associated Press

SEATTLE – A helicopter pilot from Armstrong, British Columbia, who flew loads of marijuana into the United States from Canada has been sentenced in federal court in Seattle to 10 years in prison.

The U.S. attorney’s office said 61-year-old Henry Rosenau was sentenced Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to import marijuana, just before he was to go on trial for a second time. His first trial ended in a hung jury.

Rosenau admitted that between 2000 and 2005 he flew dozens of loads of marijuana into forested areas of Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Prosecutors say the man was identified during Operation Frozen Timber, which targeted organized criminal groups smuggling B.C. Bud marijuana south from Canada into the U.S. by helicopter and smuggling cocaine north into Canada. More than 40 people were indicted.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman told Rosenau that he had, in her words, “skills that you turned into something sinister for your own greed.”