It has emerged that pleas for mercy and confessions before New York court Judge Victor Marrerro helped confessed Mombasa drug baron Baktash Akasha escape life sentence.
Folowing the prosecution's successful argument that the accused indeed participated in drug dealing in Kenya and his guilty pleas months ago, he was expected to be jailed for life.
However, the judge further considered mitigating factors cited by the accused and his lawyer George Goltzer, ten months after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
According to Goltzer, Akasha, one of the two Akasha brothers, might even spend less that 20 of the 25 years he was slapped with on Friday.
He says that he could be excused for the three years he has spent in a New York detention center alongside his brother Ibrahim, and another three for good behaviour in prison.
In his apologies read from a written note he had prepared, the drug baron confessed to having involved himself in the said activities, but regretfully pleaded with the court for mercy.
"I am truly guilty of these crimes, and I stand ashamed,” he said adding: “I only have myself to blame,” reports the Nation.
"The harm I have done not only to myself but to all those who love me. I have denied myself so many precious moments I should have had with my family," he remorsefully said.
The 42-year-old was also convicted for bribing Kenyan officials, intimidating rival drug dealers, violence and murder and was also slapped with a Sh10 million fine.