EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) -- A former Metro East lawyer is headed to federal prison for six years on drug charges that the judge characterized as part of his striking "fall from grace."

L. Thomas Lakin already had agreed to the sentence as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, who dropped charges that accused him of transporting a boy to California for sexual purposes.

During sentencing in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Judge J. Phil Gilbert told the 68-year-old defendant that he'd "had the world by the tail." But the judge says Lakin destroyed himself and his young victims in what Gilbert called "a pretty far fall from grace."

Lakin declined to make a statement. He'd pleaded guilty last month.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)