Confessed Mombasa drug baron Baktash Akasha has been handed 25 years imprisonment by a New York court after he pleaded guilty to drug dealing.
He appeared before Justice Victor Marrerro, who refused to hand him a life sentence, thanks to mitigating factors raised by his defence in Friday's court session.
He will as well be credited with the about two and a half years he has spent in detention in New York, during the hearing of his case and that of his brother Ibrahim Akasha.
The judge ruled that Baktash (42) will pay a Sh10 million fine to the US, and will be deported to Kenya upon completion of his jail term.
Baktash's lawyer George Goltzer said his client will most likely spend less than 20 years in a medium-security prison, terming the ruling as thoughtful.
"The judge gave very thoughtful regard to a difficult set of circumstances," he told the Nation after the ruling.
In his five-minute statement read from handwritten notes before the judge, before the ruling, Baktash pleaded for mercy, admitting that he has only himself for his woes.
"I have only myself to blame," he told Justice Marrerro, with his brother set to be sentenced on November 8, over very similar claims.