Washington:
A former sniper in the German army has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to kill a US drug enforcement agent in Liberia, authorities said Friday.
Dennis Gogel, 30, was also found guilty of participation in a conspiracy to import 300 kilos of cocaine on a plane to New York, the US Department of Justice said.
The former elite soldier had joined a Colombian drug cartel in 2013 and, at the time of his arrest, was part of a group of foreign mercenaries consisting of former German, American and Polish soldiers.
Gogel pleaded guilty to being implicated in a plot to kill a member of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Liberia, as well as an informant of the anti-drug agency. He also admitted his role in the drug smuggling conspiracy.
Gogel and four co-defendants, who also pleaded guilty, were nabbed in a DEA sting operation. They are being sentenced separately, with the last to be announced in October.