On this day, July 10, in 1992, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced in Miami to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering charges.
Noriega, who was on the CIA payroll in the 1950s and 1960s, was the military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He retained U.S. backing until he was indicted on drug charges in 1989.
When U.S. troops invaded the Central American country in 1989, Noriega took refuge in the Vatican’s embassy. American troops set up a perimeter outside and blared rock and roll music through loudspeakers and, eventually, Noriega surrendered.
He was flown to the Miami and convicted of cocaine trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. His prison term was knocked down to 17 years and ended in 2007. However, he remains behind bars as a prisoner of war, fighting extradition to France and Panama on other charges. The general has his own prison cell — decked out with electronics and other amenities — dubbed the “presidential suite.”
— Scott McCabe
