Ex-Lawyer for Casey Anthony Convicted of Cocaine Trafficking

Casey Anthony, right, is comforted by Todd Macaluso, part of her defense legal team, Frida
Pool photo by Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images

A former lawyer for Casey Anthony was found guilty of cocaine trafficking Friday in a Brooklyn, New York, federal court.

A jury found Todd Macaluso, 55, guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine internationally after an hour of deliberation, the New York Daily News reported.

Prosecutors say Macaluso planned to ship more than 3,000 pounds of cocaine from Ecuador to Honduras on his Falcon 10 plane.

The 55-year-old plotted to smuggle the drugs into the U.S. after they reached Honduras, prosecutors said.

Federal agents estimate the drugs to be worth roughly $13 million, adding that Macaluso would have made $185,000 after completing his smuggling operation.

Macaluso could face anywhere from three years to life in prison for the drug trafficking charges, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Authorities arrested the former attorney, who had been disbarred, last November in Haiti as he was putting the final touches on his smuggling plot with two other men, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

He had been out of prison on supervised release working as a pilot after serving five months in prison for defrauding clients in 2015.

The Daily Mail reports that Macaluso represented Anthony for about a year between 2009 and 2010. Anthony had been acquitted of murder charges in connection with her two-year-old daughter’s death.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.