COLUMBUS (AP) — A Canadian passenger on a plane forced to make an emergency landing in Ohio with 290 pounds of cocaine on board has been sentenced to just over five years in federal prison.
The Columbus Dispatch reports 46-year-old David Ayotte was sentenced to 63 months Thursday in Columbus after pleading guilty to a drug charge in June.
Ayotte, 46, of Maribel, Canada, was aboard a twin-engine plane that landed at Ohio University’s Gordon K. Bush Airport in March after an engine began smoking. The plane was met by local and federal authorities. The Windsor, Ontario-bound plane had been tracked by U.S. authorities after leaving the Bahamas.
Ayotte apologized in court through a French interpreter. His defense attorney said the criminal case has caused hardship for Ayotte’s family
The plane’s Canadian pilot, 48-year-old Sylvain Desjardins, awaits sentencing.