Drug kingpin Ylli Didani convicted in case involving cocaine-smuggling submarine
An Albanian man who prosecutors said was building a submarine to smuggle cocaine to Europe faces up to life in federal prison after jurors Friday convicted him of heading an international drug ring bankrolled by a Grosse Pointe Park businessman, a conspiracy that placed the kingpin among Metro Detroit's most prolific and innovative criminals in recent history.
Ylli Didani, 47, was convicted on all counts in federal court in Detroit late Friday afternoon after jurors deliberated for about nine hours over two days following a trial that started in February in front of U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood.
Didani, who has been in custody since 2021, faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. He spent more than half of the trial serving as his own lawyer before stepping aside for veteran Birmingham criminal defense attorney Wade Fink. Didani was convicted of conspiracy to distribute drugs, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute a controlled substance on board a vessel, and conspiracy to launder money.
Prosecutors portrayed Didani as leading a prolific drug trafficking organization that involved obtaining financing from Grosse Pointe Park businessman Marty Tibbitts. Prosecutors say the money was used to buy thousands of kilograms of cocaine in South America that was transported aboard cargo ships to Europe from at least October 2016 until Didani was arrested in March 2021.
"I respect the jury's verdict and appreciate them taking multiple days to deliberate," Fink wrote in a text message to The Detroit News. "This case has a lot for the Court of Appeals to wrestle with, not the least of which is warrantless searches and the United States criminalizing conduct that allegedly happened overseas."
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18.
There was no immediate comment from prosecutors Friday. The verdict marks the first conviction in a high-profile, complex case since Interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon was appointed earlier this month.
Didani was innovative. He and Tibbitts, CEO of Harper Woods-based Clementine Live Answering Service, were developing a remote-controlled submarine designed to hold up to 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and attach itself via magnets to cargo ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. That development stalled when Tibbitts crashed his vintage de Havilland DH 112 Venom fighter jet during a training flight in July 2018. He was 50.
Federal investigators eventually cracked Didani's encrypted phone and a secret app favored by international crime bosses, leading to drug seizures across Europe. In all, from Spain to the United Kingdom to the Netherlands, from 2017 to 2020, investigators seized more than 4,800 kilograms, or 10,582 pounds, of cocaine hidden in fruit and freight shipments, according to the government.
The seized cocaine was worth more than $100 million.
The trial started in February and revealed the drug conspiracy also involved Don Larson, an ex-con from Macomb County who owns all of the Gold's Gym franchises in Michigan.
Larson, a Macomb Township resident who owns gyms in Warren and Taylor, backed a key part of the government's case by testifying about being a passenger on a clandestine private flight from Detroit to Washington, D.C., and hand-delivering $450,000 in cash stuffed in a duffle bag from Tibbitts to Didani.
What was the money for? Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy McDonald asked Larson.
“…to buy cocaine…,” Larson said.
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Jurors heard testimony about how the drug ring generated money that Didani spent on oceanfront real estate in the Caribbean, a fleet of bulletproof vehicles and how he used a crew of Chinese couriers around the country to pay for the luxuries in cash.
The trial offered a peek at the riches of Didani’s alleged drug ring and showed how prosecutors said he laundered money by buying real estate and a fleet of vehicles, including two armored Chevy Tahoes ($127,150 each), a $143,000 armored Lexus LX 570 sport-utility vehicle and an armored Mercedes-AMG G 63 SUV ($295,350).
Highlights during the Didani trial included testimony from businessmen accused of helping Didani launder money. That includes Alex Meskouris, a New York City real estate investor who, as recently as last year, ran the famous Jackson Hole diner, a Queens landmark featured in "Goodfellas."
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"Alex Meskouris was somebody that is alleged to, or that we believe, was involved in a money laundering scheme with Mr. Didani," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bilkovic told the judge during an earlier court hearing.
Meskouris testified that Didani was interested in buying a $2.775 million oceanfront property in the Dominican Republic and a nearby golf course property for $1.05 million in 2020. The properties were owned by the Meskouris family.
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Drug kingpin Ylli Didani convicted in case involving cocaine-smuggling submarine
