DRUG SMUGGLER GETS LIFE IN PRISON

MIAMI (AP) A man dubbed "Captain Jump Off" because he would make smuggled
illegal immigrants jump from his boat into choppy surf was sentenced to life
in prison Thursday for drug smuggling.

Richard B. Barker, 47, was arrested last fall in the Bahamas, a month after
he escaped a high-seas shootout with U.S. Customs agents. He had been using
a 35-foot speedboat to deliver 1,100 pounds of cocaine 15 miles off of Grand
Bahama Island.

He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in March as part of a plea bargain,
and drug conspiracy charges were dropped. Federal prosecutor Ellen Cohen
said Barker was sentenced to life because of the shootout, the large amount
of drugs involved and Barker's criminal record.

Barker was known to federal authorities as "Captain Jump Off" because
illegal immigrants he had smuggled said he forced them to jump into
neck-high waters.

In 1994, four Haitians drowned after they were forced off his boat near the
Florida coast. Barker was convicted of negligent homicide and was paroled
after spending less than four years in prison.