Italian Citizen in Ravenel Cocaine Case Facing Prison Time

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ An Italian citizen charged in a cocaine case that brought down a South Carolina state treasurer has been sentenced to just over two years in federal prison. A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced 58-year-old Pasquale Pellicoro during a hearing on Columbia. Pellicoro could have received as much as 20 years in prison and faced $1 million in fines. Pellicoro was sentenced after pleading guilty to being part of a conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. Prosecutors said Pellicoro bought the drug and gave it to then-Treasurer Thomas Ravenel at bars, restaurants and private residences in Charleston. Ravenel resigned in 2007 and served less than a year in prison on a drug charge.