Jacques Lavigne, 64, faces at least 20 years in federal prison.After his arrest in October, Lavigne told investigators that he had cleared about $1 million in profit since he began selling cocaine from his Country Club Plaza home at the Locarno Apartments in the early 1990s.Lavigne quietly gave one- and two-word answers as he pleaded guilty to nine federal drug distribution felonies. He had no plea or cooperation agreements with prosecutors.More than 30 years ago, he pleaded straight up to 63 felonies for fixing greyhound races in Florida. In that case, according to a Sports Illustrated profile of him, his conspiracy stole about $2 million before prosecutors sent him to prison for 2½ years. Other than a friendly chat with investigators after he went to prison, he never cooperated against co-defendants.
According to prosecutors, Lavigne imported up to 154 pounds of cocaine into Kansas City between 2002 and 2007, selling most of it to an associate who peddled the dope to a “white collar” Plaza area crowd. Federal and city investigators learned of that associate last summer and persuaded him to begin recording his conversations with Lavigne.On the day of Lavigne’s arrest in October, authorities seized more than 2 pounds of cocaine and $400,000 from his apartment. They also intercepted an inbound shipment of more than 20 pounds of cocaine from a truck in Lafayette County. The driver of that truck, Oscar A. Torres, also is charged in the case.
Lavigne told friends in Kansas City that his name was “Frank Moran” — an identity he purchased in Florida before moving to Missouri — and that he owned several beauty supply warehouses in the area with a partner, according to court records.
He acknowledged Thursday that some of the money from drug sales went to purchase a handsome collection of diamond jewelry, commercial artwork, a 2003 Mercedes-Benz and a pair of matching Sony 32-inch flat-screen TVs that investigators also seized
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