COKE MULE OLDSTER LEO SHARP PLEADS NOT GUILTY

FORCED?

THE coke mule oldster who was busted with more than 200 pounds of Bolivian marching powder has pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance.
The mutton chopped 87-year-old told the court he had been "forced to take it" by someone he met through an employee in Florida.
"He asked me if I was busy. I said 'Not as busy as I'd like to be,'" said Sharp, who was told to drive north to Raleigh, N.C., and pick up luggage containing cash.
Then, as we reported here, he drove cross-country to Arizona where he dropped off the luggage and picked up dozens of bricks of cocaine along with more money and a slip of paper with a freeway exit number in Detroit.
He was pulled over for, of all things, improper lane usage and a police dog sniffed out the 104 bricks of cocaine. 
Sharp told told the court he was not threatened with weapons, but the intent of the people he was working for was clear.
He said: "I knew what they were into. I hadn't delivered the money or the drugs," he said. "If I did, I'd have money and I don't have any money."

His attorney, Ray Richards, urged him to hold his tongue later during a hearing in front of federal Magistrate Steven Whalen but with little success.
When Whalen said he could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted and might have to pay a $10 million fine, a quick laugh escaped Sharp.
"I just borrowed $20,000 yesterday," he told the judge.
The charge against him carries a minimum of 10 years in prison.