Q: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
DETROIT (AP) — An Indiana man whose age, white hair and folksy style helped conceal his role as a drug courier was sentenced Wednesday — his 90th birthday — to three years in federal prison for hauling more than a ton of cocaine to Michigan. 
  
 Leo Sharp walks toward U.S. District Court before his scheduled sentencing, Wednesday, May 7, 2014, in Detroit. The Indiana man, who turned 90 on Wednesday, was convicted of hauling more than a ton of... (Associated Press) 
  
 "All I can tell you, your honor, is I'm really heartbroken I did what I did," Leo Sharp told a judge. "But it's done." 
  
 Wearing a dark suit and tie, the frail man stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stood in front of U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds. His attorney occasionally reached over to put a reassuring grip on his shoulder or a supportive stoke on his back. 
  
 There was no dispute over Sharp's crimes: He admitted last fall that he drove loads of cocaine into Michigan for a Mexican drug organization, one of 19 people charged in the case. The government said he was paid more than $1 million. 
  
 "I don't doubt it will be difficult," Edmunds told Sharp of prison, "but respect for the law requires there be some custody." 
  
 His age aside, Sharp still isn't a typical criminal. He fought Nazis in Italy during World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star for it. The Michigan City, Indiana, man also is known for growing prize-winning daylilies and even contributed 5,000 plant bulbs to his community. 
  
 Defense lawyer Darryl Goldberg focused on Sharp's past, not the trouble that landed him in court, while asking the judge to keep his client out of prison. 
  
 "This is not how we honor our heroes, whether they've fallen from grace or not," Goldberg said. 
  
 The attorney spent several minutes reading a history of the Battle of Mount Battaglia — "German blood on the end of their bayonets" — before the judge finally interrupted him. 
  
 Goldberg repeatedly warned that Sharp's dementia would be a burden for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. He acknowledged Sharp "went into this eyes wide," but said his condition led him to use "bad judgment" and become a drug courier. 
  
 During brief remarks, Sharp said he wished to grow Hawaiian papayas on his property in Florida to pay off his $500,000 penalty to the government. 
  
 "So sweet and delicious that people on the mainland will love it," he said. 
  
 That won't be possible: The government is seizing and selling the land. 
  
 Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline said criminals don't get a pass simply for military service. He noted that Sharp used his age and appearance as a tool to shake the suspicions of police on cross-country trips before he was finally busted during a traffic stop on Interstate 94, west of Detroit, in 2011. 
  
 "They bargained on him not getting caught," the judge said in agreement. 
  
 Edmunds said linking dementia to Sharp's crimes was an "insult to all the people who have dementia and don't get involved in illegal activity." 
  
 Despite going to prison, Sharp still got a significant break. The government was seeking a five-year sentence, and sentencing guidelines called for a minimum of 14 years. 
  
 ___ 
  
 Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap . ||||| For convicted drug mule Leo Sharp, turning 90 turned out to be quite the letdown: he was sentenced to three years in federal prison on his birthday — and threatened to kill himself over the punishment. 
  
 Sharp, who spent his milestone birthday in federal court today, urged the judge to keep him out of prison, saying he regrets his crime: hauling nearly $3 million worth of cocaine across the country for a Mexican drug cartel. 
  
 “I’m really heartbroken I did what I did. But it’s done,” Sharp said, stressing: “I won’t live in prison, I’m just going to end my life if I end up there.” 
  
 U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds said she couldn’t justify not sending Sharp to prison considering the seriousness of his crime: He was a courier for a massive drug ring that ran a cocaine pipeline between Mexico and Detroit for several years. 
  
 “It’s not a victimless crime,” Edmunds said. “This is a huge drug operation, and Mr. Sharp was right in the middle of it. 
  
 “It would be weak for me to say, ‘Well, he’s an old man ...’ I think respect for the law requires there be some custody in this case.” 
  
 Sharp’s lawyer, Darryl Goldberg, pleaded with Edmunds to keep his client, who suffers from dementia, out of prison. 
  
 He argued that Sharp is a war hero who doesn’t deserve to be locked up and that it would be “cruel and thoughtless” to send a frail, old man to prison. 
  
 “Mr. Sharp is part of a great generation … before we were even born, he was on top of mountains fighting Nazis,” Goldberg said, arguing prison is the wrong place for a man like Sharp. “That’s not how we honor our heroes whether they’ve fallen from grace or (not).” 
  
 Goldberg also argued that his client was manipulated and threatened by drug lords and that he tried to get out of the drug ring. 
  
 “This old man was brainwashed … when he wanted to quit, they put a gun to his head,” Goldberg said, adding that he believes his client is one of the oldest defendants sentenced to serve time in federal prison. 
  
 The government disputed claims that Sharp didn’t know what he was doing. 
  
 “This was not a, ‘Whoops I stumbled into this,’ ” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline. “He is a willing participant.” 
  
 Graveline noted that Sharp would be facing a significantly stiffer sentence — up to 210 months — if he were younger, so the recommended five-year prison sentence is warranted. 
  
 “This is a very serious case,” Graveline said, stressing that Sharp’s crimes harmed many, especially drug addicts and people killed in drug crimes. “Mr. Sharp needs to receive some prison time.” 
  
 Edmunds agreed, noting that if she didn’t send Sharp to prison for his crime, drug dealers would get the wrong message, being: “If you want to inoculate your organization from punishment … get an elderly person to do your deliveries for you, because they’re not going to go to prison for it.” 
  
 After his sentencing hearing, Sharp was released to the custody of his step-son and will begin his prison sentence at a later date, which hasn’t been set. 
  
 In addition to serving time, Sharp agreed to pay the government $500,000 and give up his Florida property, according to a forfeiture order. But he will not give up his home or farm, the order said. 
  
 ■ Related: War veteran caught hauling cocaine hopes to avoid prison on 90th birthday 
  
 Sharp, of Michigan City, Ind., was arrested in 2011 during a traffic stop on I-94 near Ann Arbor. He was caught with nearly $3 million worth of cocaine in his pickup. Following his arrest, Sharp initially made up a story in court about what happened, telling a magistrate that he was forced at gunpoint to haul the cocaine. He eventually pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy. 
  
 Sharp was among 18 defendants indicted in the scheme. Unbeknownst to Sharp’s co-conspirators, the Drug Enforcement Administration was monitoring their phone calls. Their conversations led them to Sharp. 
  
 ■ Related: Convicted drug mule to spend 90th birthday in court facing sentencing 
  
 . |||||
A:
Leo Sharp turned 90 yesterday ... while sitting in federal court in Detroit, where he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a drug smuggling operation. The Indiana man, a World War II veteran, was convicted of hauling cocaine between Mexico and Detroit for a Mexican drug cartel; he was arrested in 2011 near Ann Arbor, where he was found with almost $3 million worth of cocaine in his pickup during a traffic stop, the Detroit Free Press reports. In court yesterday, Sharp said he's "heartbroken" about his crime, and threatened suicide: "I won’t live in prison, I’m just going to end my life if I end up there." His lawyer pleaded with the judge to reconsider the sentence, arguing that Sharp suffers from dementia and the condition caused him to use "bad judgment," the AP reports. He also spoke at length about Sharp's military service, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star ("before we were even born, he was on top of mountains fighting Nazis," the lawyer asserted). But the judge would not relent, noting that the dementia argument was an "insult to all the people who have dementia and don't get involved in illegal activity." She added that she'd basically be sending a message to drug dealers that "if you want to inoculate your organization from punishment ... get an elderly person to do your deliveries for you." Sharp, who the government says was paid more than $1 million by the cartel, agreed to pay the government $500,000 and give up property in Florida; his prison date has not yet been set.