Italian in Ravenel cocaine case to plead guilty

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say an Italian citizen who spent more than three years avoiding cocaine conspiracy charges that brought down a former South Carolina treasurer is ready to face his punishment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Pasquale Pellicoro (pass-KWAH’-lee PEL’-uh-koh-roh) will plead guilty Wednesday afternoon to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine in federal court in Columbia.

Authorities say Pellicoro failed to show up in court in 2007 after he was charged with supplying cocaine to then Treasurer Thomas Ravenel. Pellicoro stayed on the run until October 2010 when he was arrested by the FBI in France.

Pellicoro faces up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced later. Ravenel and others in the case served less than a year behind bars.