SANTA ANA : Trafficker’s Help Wins Mild Sentence

A participant in one of the nation’s largest marijuana trafficking operations was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison and fined $100.

Joseph M. Cooper received the relatively light sentence in exchange for his testimony against his former boss, Daniel James Fowlie, the convicted kingpin of the drug smuggling ring.

Fowlie was sentenced to 30 years in prison and fined $1 million June 10.

At the sentencing hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler acknowledged Cooper’s valuable testimony against Fowlie but said he was still responsible for his involvement in the operation.

“I don’t believe it to be a total wash,” Stotler said. Cooper had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and another count of failure to report currency transportation.

Before the judge imposed the sentence, Cooper’s attorney, David W. Wiechert, argued that his client deserved probation because of his willingness to work with the government in the Fowlie case and other unrelated drug investigations.

“Our argument isn’t that (Cooper) didn’t do something wrong but that once he had a chance to do something right, he did it,” Wiechert said.

Wiechert added that because Cooper went undercover for the government during drug investigations his life could potentially be in danger from other inmates in prison who know that he helped the government.

“Even with Dan Fowlie in jail, his tentacles may reach out into society,” he said.

Cooper told the judge that he was “sorry” for what he had done.

“I look back and I can’t believe that I did that. . . . I hated (the things) I did, and how they’ve hurt everybody. . . . I never will have anything to do with drugs as long as I live,” he said.

Despite Cooper’s apology, Stotler said it would “be a disappointment to the community and society to grant probation.”

Assistant U.S Atty. Elana Shavit Artson, who had argued for a prison term, said “the government was pleased with the sentence.”