Overview

• Troy Othneil Smith, 36, was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking, concluding a multiagency investigation.
• Smith's operation was exposed after a small plane carrying him made an emergency landing on SR-76 in Oceanside, where police discovered 1 kg of cocaine.
• Prosecutors revealed that Smith planned to expand his drug distribution using his own aircraft, based on handwritten flight plans found in his home.
• Smith, a former Marine Corps captain with a distinguished service record, cited significant debt and self-medication as reasons for his actions.
• The uninvolved flight instructor faced nearly a year of career disruption but has since regained his pilot's license.