Defendant Faces 10-year Mandatory Minimum Sentence for 41 kilo Cocaine Smuggling Attempt in October 2005
The Canadian organizer of a 2005 attempt to smuggle 41 kilos of cocaine into Canada pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. KEVIN DONALD KERFOOT, 53, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada was indicted in July 2006, nine months after his co-conspirators were arrested in the Bellingham area as they tried to move 41 kilos of cocaine up I-5 and onto a boat for transit to Canada. The person who was going to ferry the cocaine to Canada, brought more than seven kilos of the drug MDMA or ‘ecstasy’ into the U.S. for distribution via KERFOOT’s drug network. KERFOOT fought extradition from Canada for years, and was ultimately extradited to the Western District of Washington and arraigned on the indictment in December 2016. When sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly on July 27, 2017, KERFOOT faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison.
According to records filed in the case, a confidential source alerted agents that a large load of cocaine was traveling towards the border in October 2005. Acting on the information, a Washington State Trooper identified a suspicious vehicle driving erratically. After stopping the vehicle, a narcotics K-9 alerted to the presence of cocaine in the vehicle and officers discovered the 41 kilos of cocaine. Agents worked to arrest other members of the smuggling ring including the captain of a boat waiting at the Bellingham marina, and two other men who were waiting to pick up and distribute the ecstasy the boat had brought down from Canada. KERFOOT was identified as the person in charge of the smuggling operation.
The other members of the smuggling ring were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six-and-a-half years to just over three years. All have since been released after serving their sentences.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with assistance from the Washington State Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi, with assistance from the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs (OIA).
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
