Fugitive drug trafficker captured in Canada sentenced to 7 years

SEATTLE — A former Seattle-area man who fled to Canada during his 2009 drug trial was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Hardeep Singh, 23, formerly of Kent, was convicted in absentia of conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy after he fled following the first day of his trial. Singh was arrested last year in Canada and extradited to the U.S. to face sentencing. His co-conspirator Kaushal Kainth, 25, formerly of Renton, also fled and remains at large.

According to testimony at trial and records filed in the case, in May 2009, Kainth and Singh agreed to pay a man to deliver large amounts of Ecstasy and another drug, BZP, to co-conspirators at the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila and to a location in San Jose, Calif. The delivery man, who was working with HSI, recorded both defendants on audio and video. In all, Kainth and Singh gave the delivery man nearly 285,000 pills worth more than $2.8 million, which were seized by HSI.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington prosecuted the case.