JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- A Jacksonville man will spend life in prison on cocaine charges.
A judge today sentenced William Arthur Vanholten , 36, to life in prison for aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. Vanholten was found guilty by a federal jury on August 2.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Vanholten went to South Florida to get cocaine. The cocaine was intended for redistribution in Jacksonville.
Vanholten hired a female driver to travel in tandem with him, in a separate vehicle, to transport the drugs. When Vanholten and the woman arrived in Duval County, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office stopped both vehicles. Ten kilograms of cocaine were recovered from inside the trunk of the woman's vehicle. The street value of that cocaine was more than $330,000.
Vanholten was previously convicted of a drug violation in federal court. In 2006, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
