CORNWALL MARIJUANA TRAFFICKER GETS LIFE IN PRISON

(January 14, 2016) SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Michael C. “Mickey” Woods, age 45, of Cornwall, Ontario, was sentenced on January 14, 2016 to life imprisonment for running a drug trafficking organization that made more than $10 million in profits in a single year. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Division, Drug Enforcement Administration.

Woods and co-defendant Gaetan Dinelle were convicted following a six-day jury trial in July 2015, which was presided over by Senior United States District Judge Norman A. Mordue. Judge Mordue is scheduled to sentence Dinelle on January 21.

The evidence at trial proved that Woods, assisted by Dinelle, ran a vast international marijuana operation from Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, which operated from about 2005 until 2008. During the trial in federal court in Syracuse, witnesses testified that Woods procured large quantities of marijuana from his sources in Canada, and with Dinelle, arranged for it to be smuggled across the border into the United States. Couriers selected and supervised by Woods and Dinelle delivered the marijuana to buyers throughout the Eastern United States.

The prosecution of Woods, which began with an indictment in November 2008, involved the extradition of 15 people from Canada, including Woods and Dinelle, in one of the largest uses of the extradition treaty between the two countries in a single case.

“Because of the excellent and sustained cooperation among U.S. and Canadian authorities, Mickey Woods received a sentence befitting the vast drug trafficking organization that he ran,” stated U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. “This case shows how committed we are to bringing cross-border criminals to justice.”

Between 2006 and February 2008, law enforcement officers seized approximately $2 million dollars in currency representing proceeds of marijuana trafficking and approximately 400 kilograms (nearly 1,000 pounds) of marijuana from couriers working for Woods and Dinelle.

Evidence during the trial included law enforcement estimates that the Woods organization distributed more than 22,000 pounds of high-grade marijuana with gross wholesale receipts of $47.3 million.