Latvian sailor Janis Zegelis has been jailed for 25 years for importing $48 million worth of cocaine, a gun and 192 bullets into Bermuda on his yacht.Meting out the sentence today, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves said: "This is a case of historical enormity."He noted that no one has ever been convicted and sentenced in Bermuda for such a large amount of drugs.The largest previous sentence was around 18 years and the judge said the Zegelis case must attract a higher penalty."Drug traffickers must know with certainty that when they use this Country as any cog in the wheel of dealing, punishment shall be certain and be severe. This is the manner in which they shall be deterred," he said.Zegelis, 29, was found guilty by the unanimous verdicts of a jury last Thursday. The trial heard he has sons aged ten and seven and a two-year-old daughter.Urging the judge to be lenient, Zegelis said: "I am a family man, a father of three. All my life I'm taking care of all of them, especially my two sons who I raised (for) five years by myself. The only thing I want as soon as possible is to be with them and support them."During his nine-day trial, the jury heard Zegelis was sailing his 38ft sloop, Arturs, from Trinidad to Latvia, in Eastern Europe, when damage to his boat during a tropical storm forced him to stop in Bermuda for repairs.Prosecutors say he was smuggling the drugs to raise money for his family, who were struggling financially in his impoverished home country.E-mails showed he discussed the contraband with his mother, and she urged him not to dump the items overboard despite the damage to his yacht.Zegelis told the jury he was the victim of a plot by a Russian man who hired him to deliver the boat. He said the man hid the drugs and gun below decks and he did not discover them until three days into his voyage last July.He further claimed that he was too scared to dump the drugs or tell the authorities what happened because the Russian — who he refused to name — threatened to kill him and his family.The Supreme Court jury rejected the arguments of defence lawyer Mark Pettingill that Zegelis had the legal defence of acting under threat or duress.However, prosecutors and the judge accepted that there was no evidence the Latvian intended the contraband to get onto the streets of Bermuda. He was moored in St George's with it on his boat for 11 days before the vessel was raided and he was arrested on August 1, 2011.The judge ordered today that the Arturs must be forfeited to the court. He said the time Zegelis has spent in custody since his arrest will be knocked off his sentence. And noting that the authorities may not wish to pay for Zegelis to stay in Westgate any longer than necessary, he suggested he may end up being given parole and deported after just a third of his sentence.