A Togolese man who admits taking part in a plan to sell drugs to people who purported to represent the Taliban has been sentenced in New York.
Prosecutors say Francis Sourou Ahissou was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan federal court to five and a half years in prison. In May he pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to import narcotics into the US.
The 48-year-old is a citizen of Togo, in West Africa. He was arrested in February 2011 in Liberia.
US Attorney Preet Bharara says the man and others agreed in 2010 to sell multiple kilograms of cocaine to confidential informants for the Drug Enforcement Administration who purported to work for the Taliban. The cocaine was to be imported into the US and resold.
