A 90-year-old World War II veteran has been sentenced to three years in prison for hauling over one ton of cocaine into Michigan for a Mexican drug cartel, according to news outlet KAKE.com. Although Leo Sharp was reportedly “really heartbroken” over his crimes, Detroit federal judge Nancy Edmunds said that neither his age nor his service record were enough to keep him from doing time.  She called the case “difficult and disgusting.”

Sharp’s sentencing happened to fall on his birthday on Wednesday, seven months after pleading guilty. He was originally arrested in 2011 during a traffic stop in Ann Arbor where he was caught with over $3 million worth of cocaine in his pick up truck, according to the Detroit Free Press.

His defense attorney, David Goldberg, said he has dementia and would not fare well in prison….and added:

“Mr. Sharp is part of a great generation … before we were even born, he was on top of mountains fighting Nazis. That’s not how we honor our heroes whether they’ve fallen from grace or (not).”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline had a different view of Sharp, according to the local report:

“This was not a, ‘Whoops I stumbled into this. He is a willing participant. This is a very serious case,” Graveline said, stressing that Sharp’s crimes harmed many, especially drug addicts and people killed in drug crimes. “Mr. Sharp needs to receive some prison time.”

In addition to prison time, Sharp also agreed to pay the government $500,000 and will give up his property in Florida.

Sharp was awarded a Bronze Star in World War II.

The revelation that Mexican cartels have reach into the northernmost regions of the U.S. may surprise some, however, only days ago another Mexican cartel case surfaced in the northern United States. In that instance, several men stand accused of being enforcers Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa cartel and torturing U.S. teens in Minnesota.

Though the use of a decorated WWII vet by cartels to smuggle narcotics is unheard of, the presence of Mexican cartels across the U.S. is becoming commonplace.

Another instance of Mexican cartels operating in the northern U.S. was reported by Breitbart News and involved a Mexican national controlling a cartel operation in Washington State. 

In yet another case, Breitbart News revealed that the Chicago-area kidnapping of a mother and children was directed by a gang leader in Mexico. The order came from south of the U.S. border for a Chicago gang to do the kidnapping over missing narcotics.

Breitbart News readers interested in gaining more understanding of America’s Mexican cartel problem are encouraged to read our extensive coverage on the issue.

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