A Bradford pilot will spend 14 years in prison after he was found guilty of smuggling cocaine.

Lyle Niemi, 45, brought 269 kilograms of cocaine to the Lake Simcoe airport in 2001, where RCMP was waiting to grab hockey bags filled with cocaine and hashish.

Niemi was paid between $40,000 and $60,000 for flying his own plane to Jamaica under the company name Executive Edge.

Defence lawyer Enzo Rodinelli argued Niemi was tricked into making the trip, and was threatened with death if he didn’t comply. Considering he had approximately $22 million worth of drugs on board, the lawyer stressed, his salary for the trip should have proven he wasn’t a conspirator in the plan.

Rodinelli also pointed out another man in a similar situation was given only five years for his crime.

The Crown said Niemi played a principal role in the deal, as he picked the local airport as the spot to land, because he could avoid customs. He even turned the plane a second time so that the cabin doors faced vehicles waiting for the drugs to be unloaded.

Crown Attorney Sarah Shaikh believed Niemi deserved a severe punishment. On top of bringing harmful drugs into the country, Niemi doctored the logbooks and lied to Canadian customs, she said.
Shaikh said drug importers have to bear their fair share of guilt.

A jury gave the guilty verdict June 28, and Justice Margaret Eberhard handed down the jail time Thursday.

This is the second time Niemi has faced a judge for this case. In 2004 he was acquitted, but that was appealed because police-taped conversations of Niemi weren’t taken into consideration.