The Akasha brothers will be sentenced on Thursday and Friday for exporting tonnes of heroin to the United States.
Baktash Akasha and his younger brother Ibrahim Akasha pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to a plea bargain with the office of the Manhattan district attorney.
Baktash will be sentenced on Thursday while his younger brother Ibrahim will face the jury on Friday.
In exchange for a reduced sentence, the brothers agreed to forfeit their family's riches obtained from drug business.
The brothers would have otherwise attracted life imprisonment.
Their sentencing comes after notorious Mexican Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman was sentenced to life in prison with an additional 30 years.
The brothers were named the kingpins of moving narcotics from Africa to other continents, their multi-billion shilling drug empire headquartered in Mombasa.
Baktash was named the leader of the cartel called Akasha organization, same way El Chapo was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel based in Mexico.
The Akasha organization can be traced back to the father of the two brothers Abdalla Akasha who was murdered in 2000.
Similar to the Sinaloa cartel which executed competitors or betrayers, the Akasha organization executed anyone who betrayed them such as a South African drug dealer only named as Pinky.
The Akashas also threatened authorities who attempted to bring an end to their business.
The brothers are said to have planted their roots in the Judiciary and enjoyed protection from top Kenyan politicians.
The US-based attorney’s reports linked the brothers to bribing judiciary officials and police officers so as to defeat justice.
The Akashas were extradited to the United States without the knowledge of their families or lawyers despite there being a case in court challenging their extradition.
Attorneys in the US have urged presiding judge Victor Marrero to give a maximum sentence to Baktash.
They described him as a lifelong criminal who allegedly took part in the murder of Pinky.
As they wait for the sentences to be passed, the Akasha family is involved in a feud over the empire estimated to be worth billions.
Edited by N. Mbugua
