News Release [print friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2006

Illegal Bahamian Alien Sentenced for Possession of 4.5 Kilos of Cocaine
Defendant was intercepted at the Portland Amtrak Station with the Cocaine  

PORTLAND, OREGON - KAYSAM SMITH, age 38, a Bahamian resident, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown to l08 months imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release stemming from a guilty plea to Possessing with Intent to Distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and illegally reentering the United States following his deportation in 2002 after an aggravated felony conviction. SMITH is likely to be deported again to The Bahamas after serving his sentence

SMITH was previously convicted of conspiracy to distribute l5 and 50 kilograms of cocaine in l996. After serving a 97-month prison term, he was deported. He then illegally reentered the U.S. and was caught running cocaine from California to Ohio. When SMITH and his co-defendant JIMMY LEE SANDERS were apprehended at the Portland Amtrak Station, SMITH and SANDERS were transporting 4.5 kilograms of cocaine that was 82 percent pure. At its destination, the seized cocaine would have conservatively been worth between $88,000 and $l00,000.

SMITH's co-defendant, SANDERS, pled guilty to Possession With Intent to Distribute More than 500 Grams of Cocaine on November l, 2005, and was sentenced to l00 months imprisonment to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.

At SMITH's sentencing, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown stated, "You've cast your lot here; you can't expect to be treated with leniency when you repeatedly engage in criminal behavior after being given an opportunity not to." In noting that SMITH would likely be deported again, the Court told SMITH "to say the U.S. won't welcome you back is an extreme understatement."

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Portland Police Bureau's Drugs and Vice Division Interdiction Team and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin. Further inquiries can be directed to Diane Peterson, Public Information Officer, at 503-727-l066.