The man caught with cocaine on a small plane making an emergency landing in Oceanside will spend two and a half years in prison.
36 year old Troy Smith was dishonorably discharged from the Marines. Prosecutors say he was carrying drugs when his plane had to make an emergency landing on the 76 in Oceanside last September.
Prosecutors say Smith also sent drugs through the mail and was getting his pilot's license in order to ship the cocaine.
Smith's attorney says his client began self medicating with pot and cocaine to cope with ansiety and insomnia, but then turned to drug deals as an income source.