NEW YORK (AP) -- A well-known Bermuda football player was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for scheming with his Bermuda Customs agent girlfriend to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

"I've had a hard time dealing with the fact that I not only embarrassed myself, but also my family back home,'' the defendant, Dennis Robinson, said before being sentenced by US District Judge Carol Amon in Brooklyn, New York.

Robinson, 30, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

But the sentencing was delayed while he sought, unsuccessfully, to withdraw the plea; under federal sentencing guidelines, he had faced up to three years, eight months in prison.

Yesterday, defence attorney Richard Levitt argued his client deserved leniency, describing him as a gifted athlete and role model who made a "stupid mistake.'' Prosecutor John Smith countered that the defendant had a history of associating with drug dealers in his homeland.

Amon called the case "tragic for Mr. Robinson. It's also tragic for many of the young people who looked up to him.'' Later in the same courtroom, Amon sentenced Robinson's co-defendant, Betty Azzario to time served, meaning she could be free to return to Bermuda by the end of the month. Azzario had been behind bars for nearly a year.

Robinson, 29, was arrested last year with the help of Azzario, a former Bermuda Customs agent.

Based on a tip from Bermuda authorities, US Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration agents caught Azzario at Kennedy Airport last December boarding a Bermuda-bound flight with a package containing 3.5 pounds of cocaine.

Drugs deal ends in US jail Bermudian Customs labelling on the package and carrying a phony document saying she was on a training exercise, authorities said. She tried to claim the drugs were fake before confessing and identifying Robinson as her accomplice.

Authorities said Azzario agreed to participate in a sting operation in which she called him at a Manhattan hotel and convinced him he should be the one to sneak the drugs back to Bermuda. She then delivered the package to him in the lobby, where he was arrested.

Azzario later pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Prosecutors supported her bid for a light sentence.

"Without Ms. Azzario, there's no way Mr. Robinson would have been apprehended,'' Smith said.

Azzario, the daughter of a minister and mother of four small children, told the judge she was eager to return to her family.

"I want to apologise to everyone face to face,'' she said.

BERMUDIAN BDA DRUGS DGS