AIRLINE EMPLOYEE AND PASSENGER SENTENCED ON COCAINE CONVICTION

St. Thomas, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Ahkoy Smith 25, and Shakari Francis, 27, both of St. Thomas, were sentenced by Chief District Judge Robert A. Molloy to 20 months incarceration on their convictions of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance.

According to court documents, on January 11, 2023, Customs and Border Protection officers observed Frances, a Cape Air employee, on an airport surveillance camera entering the men’s restroom in the departure terminal. Officers approach Francis who admitted that he was paid $2,000.00 to deliver two bricks of cocaine to Smith in the restroom. Officers later established a passenger screening station at the Spirit Airlines departure gate at the Cyril E. King Airport. As the officers approached Smith, he ran unto the active runway to escape, but was immediately apprehended. Smith was found in possession of a red “Jordan” backpack containing two bricks of cocaine.

This case was investigated by Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard Potter. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCEDTF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transactional criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.