Were I living in Ecuador, I might well find it exceptionally enticing to be offered $38,000 -- four times what I usually make in a year -- to pilot my small little panga boat from Ecuador to somewhere offshore Mexico.
Would I know for sure that the boat would contain cocaine? Maybe not, though I imagine I'd certainly suspect as much.
Would I know that I'd be carrying $28 million worth of cocaine? Probably not. But once those armed guards in Ecuador led me to my boat and I saw the stuff, I bet there's no way I could possibly back out.
Would I know that, if caught, even without any criminal history, I'd receive a full 15 years in prison as a result? Probably not.
But that's indeed what the defendant here received.
Defendant says he was a minor player, but both the district court and Ninth Circuit disagree.
P.S. - People often (understandably) critique judges who cite Wikipedia, as the opinion does here for its definition of what a panga is. The term is in the dictionary. It's also described in numerous other published opinions, including this one. Personally, I'd have probably gone with one of those. (Not that it matters, of course.)
