Cuban Pilot Freed After Serving Longest Cannabis Sentence in US History

Antonio Bascaro, now 84 years old, has been released after serving 39 years of a 60-year sentence for his part in a smuggling scheme in the late 1970s, believed to be linked to Narco Cartels. The Cuban combat pilot has finally been released after serving the longest ever jail term in US history for the plant.

Part of the reason Mr Bascaro’s sentence was as long was due to the fact that he refused to cooperate with prosecutors, leading to a conspiracy charge as well due to his pronounced loyalty towards his Cuban counterparts.

Mr Bascaro said: “I refused to cooperate because my moral values and ethics, as well as my military training, kept me from using someone else or from testifying against another person to solve my problems.”

He continued: “No one forced me to join the conspiracy. That is why I did not cooperate or try to use anyone else to save my neck.”

Antonio Bascaro was an anti-communist rebel pilot who fought against the Castro regime, even receiving CIA training for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. But, as a non-US citizen who was convicted of a major felony, he may face a new challenge upon his jail exit: deportation.