B.C. man w/ 80 lbs of coke gets 5 years

A Canadian man who smuggled cocaine into Eastern Washington will spend nearly five years in federal prison, a judge ruled today.

Michael B. Yuill, 37, received about three years less than federal prosecutor’s requested and two years more than his defense lawyer requested.

Yuill, of Salmon Arm, B.C., was arrested on Oct. 2 on the Colville Indian Reservation with 80 pounds of cocaine after Spokane International Airport police told federal agents that he’d rented several SUVs in the last four months and returned them with unusually high mileage.

Yuill said he was to trade the cocaine for marijuana in Omak, according to court documents. Prosecutors alleged he was actually responsible for distributing 10 times the amount of cocaine he had when arrested, which would have made him eligible for a sentence of 84 to 105 months. Yuill’s public defender, Kim Deater, called the claim “ridiculous” in court documents and asked for a 36-month sentence.

After about two hours of testimony this afternoon, Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen sentenced Yuill to 57 months in prison, followed by five years probation, for one count of possession of five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Yuill, a father of two, pleaded guilty in February and had no previous criminal record. Yuill was described by Deater in court documents as “unsophisticated” and “a low-level mule” whose “simple yet full” life imploded when his marriage fell apart in 2007.

Still, he is a non-violent man described by his ex-wife “as a truly gentle soul,” loving father and valued member of his community.”

Yuill’s supporters, including White Lake, B.C., Fire Chief Bryan J. Griffin, wrote letters commending his character.

Yuill was a longtime volunteer with the White Lake Fire Department who helped with community parties and loved dressing up as Shrek for Halloween, according to a sentencing memorandum.

He bought a satellite business in 2003, but his poor business skills led to financial problems , and he moved to Salmon Arm to be closer to his children when his business was foreclosed upon. He took a job at an RV company and at a saloon, but he struggled financially.

After his arrest last October, Yuill told investigators he’d met a man named “Fugly” in Salmon Arm who gave him a BlackBerry device to use in drug running, according to prosecutors.

Yuill became Zebra and began communicating with “Nighthawker;” according to court documents. Yuill “surmised it could be Fugly, but he did not know for sure.” He was to receive $5,000 for the October trip.

Yuill said he’d been in the country three previous times but only to check construction work and cell coverage and, on one occasion, pick up marijuana.

Prosecutors said in court documents that Yuill claimed to have served as a decoy for a larger shipment of up to 300 kilograms of cocaine, and that such a shipment successfully reached Canada about the time of Yuill’s arrest. Yuill later denied making that claim.