5 admit roles in marijuana smuggling operation

Five people have recently admitted their roles in an international marijuana smuggling operation that police say moved several hundred pounds of pot through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

David "David Lett" LaFontaine, 30, Bridgeport, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Syracuse before Senior Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. to 123 months in prison. He pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.

He confessed that he received large quantities of high-grade Canadian marijuana on a weekly basis, court documents state. He smuggled the pot into the U.S. through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, then distributed it in the Syracuse area.

Mr. LaFontaine was among nine people arrested in August 2008 for allegedly smuggling marijuana across the border. When his prison term is completed, Mr. LaFontaine could be deported to Canada.

Four other people have pleaded guilty in the case: Carl Pierce, 46, Hogansburg, Mark McLoughlin, 29, Clay, Edward Burns, 29, North Syracuse, and Randy Jareo, 37, North Syracuse.

Mr. Pierce, also known as "Cloudy Day" and "Mailman," and Mr. Jareo pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. Both will be sentenced in January.

Mr. McLoughlin pleaded guilty in June and Mr. Burns in July to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Both will be sentenced in November.

The cases of Helena Jacobs, Hogansburg, Cynthia Jareo-Lett, Bridgeport, Charles Cesario, Bridgeport, and Adam "Big Guy" Bigtree, no hometown listed, are pending.

Federal authorities executed five search warrants Aug. 17, 2008, seizing five vehicles, four guns, a bulletproof vest, $53,751 in cash and 60 pounds of pot. The guns seized include a loaded .380-caliber handgun, a .38-caliber revolver, a loaded Kel Tech .40-caliber rifle with a loaded 15-round clip and a 12-gauge shotgun.

Nine days later, several Canadian law enforcement agencies also executed several warrants in a related case called Operation Scarecrow in the Ottawa region.

Several large-scale indoor marijuana operations were shut down, and several shipments were intercepted. The Canadian investigation reportedly seized about $4.5 million in pot and more than $460,000 in assets.