A Langley man who was the target of a drive-by shooting at his heavily-fortified rural home in 2008 will serve five years in a U.S. prison for his part in a cross-border smuggling scheme that trafficked in money, marijuana and cocaine.
Jody York, 36, and six other B.C. residents involved in the ring were all sentenced Friday (March 25) by U.S. district court Chief Judge Robert S. Lasnik in Seattle, who ordered 59 months of jail time followed by three years of parole.
York and the others had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
The charges were the result of a three-year investigation that led to the seizure of more than 1,700 pounds of cocaine, 7,000 pounds of “B.C. Bud” and around $3.5 million in cash.
York was co-founder of a Langley-based trucking company used in the smuggling ring.
Drugs were hidden inside hollowed-out logs on trucks, within the false walls of cargo containers and vehicles, within loads of commercial lumber and beauty bark, inside large PVC pipes, and within the interior of a propane tanker. Some loads were carried on foot across the international border between the United States and Canada.
In December of 2008, York’s partner in the trucking company, Robert J. Shannon of Maple Ridge, pleaded guilty to smuggling charges and was given 20 years.
A month earlier, York’s home was shot at and a garage door and camper were riddled with bullets. No one was injured.
The $1 million residence featured a number of advanced security measures including video cameras, police said.
Note: York no longer owns the house. It was sold approximately two years ago.