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TAMPA (WFLA) — A New York man has plead guilty to conspiring to smuggle more than five kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. through Port Everglades, according to the Justice Department.
U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced Friday that 58-year-old Egbert Philip pleaded guilty after he made multiple attempts to receive cocaine smuggled into the United States from Panama.
According to the plea agreement, on April 26, 2022, Philip helped to secure personnel to offload 15 kilograms of cocaine smuggled into Port Everglades. That cocaine was seized by law enforcement.
A second attempt was made in November 2022, this time with 112 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the vessel. On December 7, 2022, as Philip was loading the received narcotics into his car in Sarasota, he was arrested.
Philip faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years, up to life, in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.