Head of Georgia Drug Cell Oliver Maciel-Macedo Gets 16 Years in Prison

The head of a drug trafficking cell in Georgia that distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine worth millions of dollars across metro Atlanta was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison on Thursday.

Oliver Maciel-Macedo received the stiff sentence despite his attoey's claims that the man was a mere foot soldier working for powerbrokers in Mexico

Defense attoey Bruce Harvey said his client was a pawn in a sprawling drug organization who was paid to do the bidding of a shadowy Mexican drug kingpin known as "El Negro."

But prosecutors said Maciel-Macedo played an important role in distributing cocaine across the state. U.S. District Judge Richard Story said he agreed when he sentenced the 29-year-old to several more years in prison than his attoey said was reasonable.

"It's a serious crime that requires a serious response," the judge said, concluding that the suspect was a "company man" who clearly played a managerial role.

Maciel-Macedo was one of the biggest catches federal investigators landed when he and others were arrested in August 2009 as part of what authorities called "Operation Four Horsemen." In all, investigators say, the operation led to the dismantling of two drug rings and the seizure of $21 million and about one ton of cocaine.

Authorities nabbed Maciel-Macedo, who led one of the cells, after following him to a bus parked behind a hotel in northwest Atlanta. where they watched him and another man transfer cocaine to his car. Agents said they then followed the two men to a pair of stash houses in metro Atlanta, where they later confiscated about 150 kilograms of cocaine and more than $5 million.

Maciel-Macedo pleaded guilty to the drug-related charges, and at Thursday's sentencing hearing his attoey called him a "classic foot soldier" who was used by powerful drug lords in Mexico.

"He does what he's told, but he doesn't make any decisions about the price or where it goes," said Harvey, who urged the judge to sentence his client to fewer than 13 years in prison. "The players sent him up front while they're off in the distance making the money. And he's paying the price."

Maciel-Macedo also pleaded with the judge for mercy, vowing to be a better father to his three young daughters when he's released from prison.

"I just ask for a second opportunity," he said through an interpreter.

But federal authorities said they had plenty of proof that he was in charge of several workers who made sure the massive loads of cocaine shipped in from Mexico were safely distributed around Georgia.

He may have taken orders from Mexico, but he had complete discretion over how to carry out those orders here, said Thomas Jackson of the Drug Enforcement Administration.