FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885
FEBRUARY 6, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOWIE COUPLE CONVICTED ON HEROIN CONSPIRACY CHARGES
Supervised and Recruited Couriers to Smuggle Heroin from Ghana, Germany and the U.K.
BALTIMORE, Maryland - United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein announces that today a federal jury convicted Godfrey Bonsu, age 44, and his wife, Victoria Boateng, age 42, both of Bowie, Maryland, on charges of conspiracy to import heroin and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin.
According to the evidence presented at trial, from September 2003 to December 2004, Bonsu and Boateng recruited couriers from Ghana to smuggle heroin from Ghana, Germany and the United Kingdom. The couriers, several of whom testified at the trial, would swallow pellets containing heroin and fly into the United States, where they would then meet with the defendants at a hotel in Maryland and hand the heroin over to the defendants.
Bonsu and Boateng face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum term of ten years in prison, a fine of $4,000,000 and at least five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for May 2, 2006. Both defendants are now detained, as Mr. Bonsu was remanded to custody following the verdict.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the investigative work performed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mr. Rosenstein also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney James G. Warwick, who prosecuted the case.
This page last modified—February 7, 2006