DRUG MULES TURN AGAINST CRIME RING

A'burg Men Get 'Break' For Testimony

Two Amherstburg men were sentenced Tuesday to time served on drug
charges after agreeing to testify against a large international drug
ring.

Matthew Moody, 32, and his nephew Jesse Rusenstrom, 20, pleaded guilty
to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances in June.
Federal District Court Judge John Corbett O'Meara placed the two men
on five years probation Tuesday and required them to return to the
U.S. to continue to testify against others connected with the drug
ring.

"This was the biggest mistake of my life," Moody told the court. "I
hurt my family. I let down my family. I put them in danger. I'll spend
the rest of my life making it up to them."

Moody's wife wept quietly as her husband spoke. The family declined to
speak to The Star.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Pratt said Moody exceeded the
expectations of the plea deal in providing valuable information that
wasn't known to police. He called Rusenstrom courageous and honest and
deserving of a second chance.

Pratt encouraged the judge to consider leniency because both men
testified against other drug ring participants despite threats made to
both families from the drug ring leaders from Toronto. Both men faced
up to seven years in prison.

"You got a break Mr. Moody," O'Meara said. "You should appreciate
that."

Moody, a married father, was struggling to support his family and
started to lead a double life, said his defence lawyer Neil Rockind.
In the summer of 2009 Moody and Rusenstrom were recruited by some
Albanian and Chinese drug operatives in Toronto to be mules in the
U.S. The pitch was they'd never get caught, said Pratt, who was
recounting testimony heard two weeks ago at the drug trial of another
Albanian Canadian, Robert D'Leone.

Moody and Rusenstrom testified that they travelled around the U.S.
delivering drugs and picking up cash. In the days before their Nov. 6,
2009, arrest, Moody was in Louisiana picking up a large sum of cash
and Rusenstrom was in Flint, Mich., taking delivery of four kilograms
of cocaine from D'Leone.

When Rusenstrom arrived at the Sandusky City Airport in rural Michigan
in the early morning hours of Nov. 6, 2009, he had 20 kilograms of
cocaine tucked away in a hidden compartment in his car. The drugs had
a street value of at least $10 million.

Meanwhile, Canadian authorities had caught on to the drug ring in
Toronto and put a tracker on a single engine Cessna headed for
Michigan. When the plane crossed the U.S. border, American border and
DEA agents followed the plane in a Blackhawk helicopter.

The plane landed at the rural Michigan airport and the Amherstburg men
unloaded 100 pounds of marijuana and 400,000 benzylpiperazine pills,
which is a drug like ecstasy. The drugs had a street value of $8 million.

Rusenstrom loaded the cocaine on the plane and it took off a few
minutes before the Blackhawk helicopter arrived with its spotlight
shining on the two men, who were loading drugs into their car parked
on the landing strip. Moody and Rusenstrom tried to outrun the
helicopter in their Toyota Rav 4. Sanilac County Sheriff 's deputies
intervened and arrested the men.

Moody and Rusenstrom told police it wasn't the first time they'd met a
plane at a rural airport to unload drugs. It was the first time they'd
sent cocaine to Canada.

Canadian authorities were waiting for the plane to return to Toronto,
but it landed elsewhere and the cocaine disappeared into the Canadian
drug market, Pratt said. Michigan authorities have indicted four
Canadians, including the pilot of the plane, for participation in the
drug ring. None of them are in custody.

"I've been doing this job for 28 years," said Pratt. "No one has used
small planes and rural airports."

Moody and Rusenstrom won't arrive in Canada until the U.S. deports the
men, which will probably take a month or two, Pratt said.