United States v. Michael David Robelo

Michael Robelo was apprehended in May 1978 as he entered the United States after a flight from Lima, Peru, with 972 grams of cocaine hidden under a false bottom in his suitcase. After being apprehended, Robelo persistently asserted that he acted alone in saving $9,000 to finance his trip and the cocaine purchase, and that he acted alone in making the purchase. He also maintained persistently that he had never been involved in any previous criminal activity. He stated he had paid $7,600 for the cocaine. It had a street value of $280,000. He originally claimed he did not know the purity of the cocaine, but later admitted having performed a “clorox test” to determine its purity.

Robelo pleaded guilty to illegally importing the cocaine into the United States.

The pre-sentence report showed that when Robelo arrived at the Los Angeles airport he was extremely nervous and answered the Customs inspector’s questions with evasive responses. He was not particularly cooperative with the agent.

The report supplied Robelo’s background, showing that for five summers he worked as a counselor at a summer camp in New York. He finished high school in 1974 and went to Israel for one year on a…