Drug Ring's Money Manager Pleads Guilty

ALBANY -- The reputed money manager of a sophisticated Bronx-based drug ring pleaded guilty today in federal court and faces mandatory life in prison.

Of the 10 people arrested in connection with the ring in January, Omar ``O'' Astacio, 26, is the last of three alleged leaders to admit his role, in part because his two prior felony drug convictions left his attorney and prosecutors little room to negotiate terms of a plea.

Authorities have said the group idolized others known as the Cocaine Cowboys, violent drug gangs that infiltrated Miami in the 1970s and `80s. A documentary about the gangs was among the drug paraphernalia seized from their stash house, prosecutors have said.