B.C. man pleads guilty to drug smuggling charges in Washington state

SEATTLE – A British Columbia man who unsuccessfully fought extradition all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada has pleaded guilty to drug charges in the United States.

U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes says in a statement that 53-year-old Kevin Kerfoot pleaded guilty in a Seattle court on Tuesday to organizing a plot in 2005 to smuggle cocaine into Canada.

The Surrey, B.C., resident fought extradition to the United States for several years, and the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his case last December.

The U.S. Department of Justice says records show that police stopped a car that was driving erratically along a Washington State highway in October 2005 and a police dog discovered 41 kilograms of cocaine in the vehicle.

The department says several members of a smuggling ring were arrested and Kerfoot was identified as the person in charge of the operation.

The U.S. Department of Justice says Kerfoot now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The department says other members of the smuggling ring were sentenced to between three and six and a half years in prison, and have all been released since serving their sentences.