Press Release
CONVICTED DRUG TRAFFICKER SENTENCED IN THIRD LARGEST MARIJUANA SEIZURE AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
October 2, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffery H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Investigations in Miami, announced that defendant Ryan Gayle, 32, a former resident of Broward County, was sentenced earlier today for his involvement in the third largest importation of marijuana at Miami International Airport with an estimated street value of $4.3 million.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Goldberg sentenced Gayle to 121 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years supervised release.
On November 30, 2006, based on a long term undercover investigation conducted by ICE special agents in Miami, CBP Officers, seized approximately 3,540 pounds of marijuana coming from Kingston, Jamaica concealed inside cargo manifested as black pepper and seasoning, at the Miami International Airport. The intended recipient of the marijuana was defendant Ryan Gayle.
During the course of this investigation, ICE special agents documented several attempts by Ryan Gayle to unlawfully import other marijuana shipments concealed aboard commercial cargo flights in May 2007 and August 2007 into Miami International Airport. On August 26, 2008, ICE special agents arrested Gayle on charges of conspiracy to import marijuana, importation of marijuana, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 963, 952(a), and 846, respectively.
On May 8, 2009, Gayle was found guilty following a federal jury trial for importation and conspiracy to import more than 1000 kilograms of marijuana.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of ICE’s Office of Investigations in Miami with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Operations. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Hoffman.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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