Man pleads guilty to smuggling cocaine into Florida

TAMPA, Fla. — A man from New York has pleaded guilty to his role in smuggling cocaine into Florida.

Egbert Philip, 58, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to import more than five kilograms of cocaine into the United States, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

He faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in April 2022, at the seaport in Colon, Panama, coconspirators loaded a container vessel with 15 kilograms of cocaine inside a refrigeration unit to avoid detection. On April 26, 2022, the vessel arrived in Port Everglades, Florida. Philip assisted with securing personnel at the port to offload the 15 kilograms of cocaine for further distribution, but law enforcement seized it, said the USAO.

Prosecutors said the conspirators tried again in November 2022. This time, they hid 112 kilograms of cocaine on the container vessel. According to the plea agreement, Philip was the intended recipient of the cocaine, and on December 7, 2022, he tried to receive the cocaine in Sarasota, Florida, for further distribution throughout the state.

Philip was arrested shortly after he loaded the cocaine into his car, said the USAO.

This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force South.

The Sarasota Police Department also provided valuable assistance and coordination in the case. Assistant United States Attorney David J. Pardo prosecuted the case.