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| Garnett Gilbert Smith |
One of Baltimore's biggest ever drug dealers has been jailed for 25 years for shipping a ton of cocaine - and enjoying a life of fast cars, designer clothes and luxury properties with the earnings.
Garnett Gilbert Smith's lavish life was revealed in court in Baltimore, where he was found guilty of shipping the drugs from California to Maryland between 2010 and 2011.
The 44-year-old cleared $10,000 profit on each kilogram, raking in more than $10 million in total, according to court documents. Prosecutors say he also trafficked heroin.
He splashed the cash on stays at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills - where rooms can reach $1,000 a night - and owned or rented numerous properties in Baltimore, Georgia, Virginia and California.
He had an impressive fleet of 19 luxury vehicles, including a $162,300 Lamborghini Murcielago, a $219,000 2009 Maybach, a $165,000 Aston Martin and motorcycles worth up to $65,000.
His designer wardrobe included items from Gucci, Cartier and Louis Vuitton.
Authorities also seized $258,000 worth of shoes, belts, pants, glasses, belts, hats and bags from his Atlanta storage unit, the Baltimore Sun reported.
They also took £1.1 million in jewelery from his condo in Studio City, California, and $741,000 in cash - some hidden in speakers and tool boxes - from his Maryland home.
High life: Garnett Gilbert Smith, 44, has been sentenced to 25 years for drug trafficking
Authorities photographed the massive piles of cash that Smith had stockpiled
at the time of his arrest
Authorities photographed the massive piles of cash that Smith had stockpiled at the time of his arrest
Smith stockpiled cash easily as he
cleared $10,000 profit on each kilogram
Bling: They also confiscated piles of garish gold and diamond jewelry and multiple watches
It doesn't seem the diamond encrusted evil eye pendant did him much good
It doesn't seem the diamond encrusted evil eye pendant did him much good
He raked in over $10million selling drugs, and all these luxury watches became the property of the federal government
His condos in Beverly Hills and McLean, Virginia both rented for $4,800 a month
After sending Smith to prison for 25 years, the judge handed $6.7 million of Smith's assets over to the federal government, including a condo in downtown Baltimore, $1.6 million in jewelry and cars.
Authorities say he blew through millions of other dollars earned from drugs on clothes, parties, vacations and his large entourage.
His lengthy sentence came after the Drug Enforcement Administration had spent two years investigating Smith, who authorities called 'Mr Big'.
'Garnett Smith, simply put, is one of the largest cocaine and heroin dealers to be prosecuted in Baltimore in recent history,' prosecutors wrote to a judge ahead of the sentencing, the Sun wrote.
Smith had pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
After his arrest, he allegedly tried to hide his investments and worked to get some of his assets
liquidated or hidden, authorities said.
Pricey: He also had a condo at this downtown Baltimore apartment block and
spent thousands on designer clothes, hotels and jewellery. In his defense he simply said he was 'a work in progress'
Pricey: He also had a condo at this downtown Baltimore apartment block and spent thousands on designer clothes, hotels and jewellery. In his defense he simply said he was 'a work in progress'
Home: This property in Georgia was just one of many that Smith bought or rented with his $10 million earning from his cocaine trafficking business. Authorities also seized a condo and 19 vehicles
Home: This property in Georgia was just one of many that Smith bought or rented with his $10 million earning from his cocaine trafficking business. Authorities also seized a condo and 19 vehicles
'Smith carefully laundered his drug money, utilized friends and relatives as title-holders on cars, established multiple aliases to conduct financial transactions, and created businesses which functioned to disguise the source of his wealth,' prosecutors wrote to the judge.
He made the money selling cocaine he shipped from California, hiding it in compartments in vehicles that were then loaded on to car carriers.
It was a slick operation - with his workers using new cell phones on every trip.
But in 2011, Arkansas state troopers stopped one of the shipments and seized over $2.3 million.
Afterward, Smith found a new supplier, resumed his cocaine shipments and started trafficking heroin, prosecutors said.
Nineteen expensive vehicles were seized including this Lamborghini Murcielago
He also had a Maybach, which stopped being made in 2012 but was a peer to cars like Bentleys
No doubt less conspicuous than his Maybach and Lambo, he had this Beetle
His Toyota Cruiser doubled as a vehicle for drug running
But an SUV was stopped in Texas, where authorities found a stash of heroin in a compartment. Authorities used one of Smith's middlemen to deliver it to Smith, arresting him when he opened the compartment.
'Smith will now spend the prime of his life in prison and will not be eligible for parole until he is a senior citizen,' said Gary Tuggle, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Baltimore office.
In his sentencing, Smith, who has previous arrests for drugs and paraphernalia possession, apologized and said he is not the monster he was made out to be.
'I'm a work in progress,' he told the court.
EXODUS 22:
18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
EZEKIEL 13:
22Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
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