TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A former Drug Enforcement Administration agent was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison, having pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his demanding cash from an imprisoned drug trafficker's brother.
The Tampa Bay Times reports 62-year-old Samuel Murad, once a respected federal agent, apologized in court Tuesday for his role in a scheme that centered on securing an early release for Joe Pegg.
Murad helped send Pegg to prison in the 1990s.
The scheme that ensnared Murad - and another former DEA agent who's already been sentenced - began in 2009 when Pegg's lawyer hired Murad to assist in getting Pegg a reduced sentence.
Federal rules prohibited Murad from doing anything on Pegg's behalf.
Court records show Murad sent Pegg's brother an email demanding $700,000.
