A Utah federal judge sentenced a McDonnell-Douglas engineer, who pleaded for leniency, to three years in prison Friday on charges of transporting nearly 29 pounds of cocaine into the state.
Bertram C. Williams Jr., 31, Paramount, Calif., who could have been sentenced to 10-years-to-life in prison on the drug possession and conspiracy charges, asked Judge David Winder "please give me another chance."
Williams pleaded guilty to the July charges. He was arrested July 2 on I-15 near Nephi, about 95 miles south of Salt Lake City. Utah Highway Patrol troopers found the cocaine hidden in a compartment in the trunk of the defendant's car.