A long-time fugitive captured in Century Village near West Palm Beach this year was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday morning by the same federal judge who presided over his drug smuggling trail more than 30 years ago.
U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King ordered Mark Steven Phillips, now 62, to serve the prison sentence, followed by two years of special parole, for his assistance in the "Black Tuna Gang," a group that imported as much as 500 tons of marijuana and cocaine worth an estimated $300 million into the United States in the 1970s.
Federal prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison sentence, but King sided with the five-year recommendation provided by the federal court's probation department. Similar to what Phillips' attorney had argued, probation officials indicated Phillips participated in failed attempts to import two marijuana loads. Phillips' lawyer, Ed Shohat, called it a minor role, and said Phillips likely was considered by gang members as a mere "fishing buddy."
In a report, probation officers also noted that Phillips had bipolar disorder during his entire adult life, including during the 1970s, when he was involved in the drug smuggling. Phillips and Shohat stood at a lectern as the judge announced the sentence.
"I've concluded that it's appropriate to accept the submission of your counsel as being a reasonable and fair sentence," King told Phillips.
Phillips, in shackles and in a khaki jumpsuit, hugged Ira Loewy, another attorney on his legal team. As Phillips was led away from the courtroom, he waved goodbye to his ex-wife, Barbara Madigan, and relatives in the audience.
The judge earlier had offered Phillips an opportunity to speak, to which Phillips replied, "No, your honor. I don't wish to say anything. Thank you."
After the hearing, Shohat said, "We're very gratified with what the judge decided."
The U.S. Marshals Cold Case Squad apprehended Phillips at a Century Village rental apartment on Jan. 27.
Phillips had been on the run since 1979, when he disappeared seven weeks into his drug smuggling trial in Miami while free on $25,000 bond, federal agents said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration first arrested Phillips and other members of the "Black Tuna Gang" in May 1979. He was indicted along with more than a dozen others accused of importing tons of marijuana and cocaine into the United States, according to case records.
Phillips was corporate director of Striker Aluminum Yachts in Fort Lauderdale, his family's business. Phillips met with gang members, and he and his company provided boats for smuggling.
While on the run, Phillips was found guilty of seven counts of racketeering and drug smuggling.
After spending three decades in Chile and Germany under an alias, officials said Phillips returned to Florida last year with a U.S. passport he reportedly obtained with help from the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile.
He used his real name when applying for a Florida driver's license, which helped authorities find him. When he returned to the U.S., some officials were unaware he was convicted and considered closing his case. But authorities ultimately realized his status and re-arrested him.
Federal prosecutors had argued that the 5-year sentence was too lenient for Phillips when compared to other participants in the gang. Two of the most severe sentences against other Black Tuna members were 64 and 53 years in prison.
Prosecutors also said Phillips had no problem moving to Chile and carrying on with a nice life as a fugitive.
In Chile, the divorced father of two re-married, had a son, and established a lucrative business importing and exporting seafood. With his alias, Marcus Steffan, he obtained a German passport, and traveled to the United States, flying into the country from Chile, London and Vancouver.
In 1994, Phillips and his wife rented two penthouse apartments in New York for $10,000 a month, and paid for them each month in cash. But finally in June 2009, after he and his Chilean wife separated, he became a "street person" and presented himself for surrender at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, officials said.
Relatives had appealed to the judge in recent months, asking him in letters to be merciful with his sentence. They described Phillips as a gregarious, smart and caring man who initially showed promise in carrying on a successful career with the boat business.
During part of his childhood, he lived in Pompano Beach. He married Barbara Madigan in 1968. They divorced about 10 years later. One of their two children had meningitis as an infant and was left disabled. That was a stressful situation, which Phillips endured while wrangling with bipolar dispolar, Madigan wrote.
Phillips turned to abusing cocaine, convincing himself it was a remedy for his bipolar disorder, relatives said. In 1979, he attempted suicide by ramming his car into a utility pole, Madigan said. "I believe there are prisons with no bars, and Mark has spent most of his life in such a place," Madigan wrote.
Patty Miller, his sister, wrote that with her brother doesn't exhibit psychiatric symptoms when properly medicated for bipolar disorder. Had he received proper medication in the 1970s, "perhaps his whole life would have been different," she said.
In a letter last month, Phillips' cousin, Nancy Glick, said that no matter the sentence, it's been a difficult life for Phillips.
"Thirty years later, the tragedy is that a capable, intelligent man has lived a life devoid of happiness and fulfillment as he struggled with drug addiction, mental illness, terrible loneliness and a life of regret," Glick said.
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