Former ‘cocaine cowboy’ pilot on trial in auto fraud case
MIAMI — A pilot who once flew tons of drugs for Colombian cartels during Miami’s “cocaine cowboys” era went on trial Tuesday in an auto fraud case, with his attorney insisting prosecutors can’t prove he knew anything illegal was going on.
Attorney Rick Yabor told jurors in an opening statement there’s little evidence that Mickey Munday created or dealt with the fraudulent paperwork used in the scheme to essentially steal more than 150 cars between 2008 and 2015.
“All he was doing was transporting cars,” Yabor said. “What they’re going to feed you is a ghost story. And just like those ghost stories, it’s going to be full of holes.”
Munday, 72, spent most of the 1990s in prison after pleading guilty to drug smuggling charges involving tons of cocaine from Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel and also the Cali cartel during the 1980s. He frequently brags about his exploits in media interviews, social media posts and in a starring role in the 2006 documentary “Cocaine Cowboys.”