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Last Of The "Cocaine Cowboys" Pleads Guilty

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — After staying hidden from law enforcement for 26 years Gustavo Falcon, the last of Miami's so-called "cocaine cowboys," changed his plea to guilty Thursday in a decades-old drug case.

Falcon vanished in 1991 when he was charged along with his older brother Augusto "Willie" Falcon, Salvador "Sal" Magluta and others. The gang purportedly smuggled at least 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and made some $2 billion in the hyper-violent "Miami Vice" era.

On Thursday, Falcon pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in the multiple-count indictment.

Last April, Falcon was arrested by U.S. Marshals near Orlando, where he lived under an alias with his wife.

He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 11th.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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