Loading ...Tarpon Man Sentenced on Drug Charges
A young man from one of Tarpon Springs’ elite families was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in federal prison for his role in a massive drug ring.
That’s at least 10 years less than the recommended sentence for 25- year-old Jorge Annexy. But prosecutors asked for lenience because Annexy has helped them make other drug cases. U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said the government’s request was “absolutely extraordinary” but went along with it.
“I have given life sentences to people who have stood where you stand,” Merryday told Annexy. “You would have given up the best years of your life for this idiotic lark you went on with these drugs.”
Annexy pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms, or 11 pounds, of cocaine. Prosecutors said he was a leader in a drug operation that also smuggled marijuana and ecstasy.
Annexy was involved in an “extensive drug distribution network in which he employed a number of individuals,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston.
But Annexy deserved less than the 210 to 262 months in prison set forth in sentencing guidelines because of his assistance in several other cases, Preston said. He said Annexy’s assistance led to a big ecstasy seizure on the east coast of Florida.
Preston said Annexy also has assisted in other cases, including at least one that he told the judge about in a bench conference but could not discuss in the open courtroom.
Merryday went along with Preston’s request, sentencing Annexy to 87 months in prison. He also told Annexy to put some effort into straightening out his life. He said Annexy is lucky to have a good support system, including his wife of one month, Shawna, and the 18 family members and friends who attended the sentencing hearing Friday.
“Whatever your punishment today, you can, in fact, recover from it,” Merryday said.
Annexy has admitted to transactions involving 7 kilograms of cocaine, as well as more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana and 400,000 hits of ecstasy, but was not prosecuted on those charges under a plea agreement.
Annexy’s attorneys said Friday that he was the leader of the ecstasy portion of a drug trade and recruited people into it. They said he was not the leader of the cocaine and marijuana trades he was involved in.
“(He) clearly has done wrong, clearly has committed a number of crimes,” Clearwater attorney Bjorn Brunvand said. After the hearing, he said he thought the sentence was fair.
Annexy said little Friday except to say he was sorry and to thank the people who wrote letters on his behalf.
“I’d like to apologize . . . for all my wrongdoings,” he said. “I’d like to apologize to my family and friends.”
Annexy is the son of one-time tennis star Mary Arfaras Annexy, who was known as the “Golden Greek” in the local media, and the great- grandson of one of the founders of the city’s sponge industry, George Arfaras.
His father, Jaime Annexy Fajardo, had operated an insurance company in Puerto Rico but spent much of his time in Tarpon Springs. He also competed for Puerto Rico in the hammer throw event in the 1952 Olympics. Fajardo died in 2000.
An investigation into Jorge Annexy’s drug activities began in 1999 by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. The FBI and other agencies later joined in, and Annexy was arrested by U.S. marshals Feb. 1, 2001 – exactly a year before his sentencing.
Annexy lived with his mother in one of the largest homes along Spring Bayou and was under house arrest there last year.
After the hearing Friday, Annexy’s mother went up to Preston, the prosecutor, and thanked him for his handling of the case.
“I just want to apologize for my son,” she told him.
Then, as she went to see her son before U.S. marshals took him away, she said: “We’re heartbroken. We’re a heartbroken family.”
St. Petersburg Times – St. Petersburg, Fla.
Author: Katherine Gazella