Warehouse Manager Given Life Sentence in Record Cocaine Bust Sylmar: He was arrested in September, 1989, after the discovery of 21.4 tons of the drug worth an estimated $6.9 billion.: [Valley Edition]

The man who managed the Sylmar warehouse where authorities made the largest cocaine bust in history two years ago was sentenced Monday to life without parole.

U. S. District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. told James Romero McTague that he was guilty of "one of the most horrendous crimes that has ever been committed against the American people."

McTague, 43, was one of seven people arrested in September, 1989, after the discovery of 21.4 tons of cocaine stacked in boxes in the warehouse.

McTague and two other men were convicted in November. But a federal jury deadlocked on verdicts for three other defendants, prompting Hatter to declare a mistrial for the three.

The government plans to retry those three and another defendant who was not part of the original trial.

Federal authorities said the cocaine seized in the 1989 bust was enough for 1.38 billion doses,...