Jamaican National Caught Smuggling Cocaine At Charlotte Airport Is Sentenced To 33 Months In Federal Prison

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Keshon Kevino Hawthorne, 27, of Jamaica, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release for smuggling cocaine at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (Charlotte airport). 

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on November 4, 2018, Hawthorne flew into Charlotte onboard a flight that originated in Montego Bay, Jamaica, with a final destination to New York City.  At the airport, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents inspected Hawthorne’s luggage, and seized more than one kilogram of cocaine hidden inside his two suitcases. According to court records, Hawthorne told law enforcement that he had been paid $600 by an individual in Jamaica to deliver the drugs to New York City.  Hawthorne also told law enforcement that he had traveled to the United States on 14 occasions in the preceding year, each time smuggling cocaine hidden inside his luggage.

Hawthorne previously pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and unlawful importation of cocaine into the United States.  He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

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In a separate case, on Monday, July 22, 2019, Judge Whitney sentenced Christopher Anthony Samuels, 37, of Montego Bay, Jamaica, to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release on cocaine trafficking and related charges.   According to filed court documents, in November 2018, Samuels flew into the Charlotte airport onboard a flight that originated in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  Samuels was scheduled to connect in Charlotte, and fly the same day to New York City.  Court records show that, upon entry into the United States, Samuels’ suitcase and backpack were inspected by CBP agents at the airport.   Samuels was sent to secondary inspection, during which time CBP officers X-rayed Samuels’ luggage. Upon further inspection, CBP officers, working jointly with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), discovered two taped bags weighing approximately two kilograms of cocaine, hidden within the suitcase’s bottom liners. As Samuels previously admitted in court, he intended to deliver the cocaine to co-conspirators located in New Jersey.  Samuels pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and unlawful importation of cocaine into the United States. 

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray noted that both cases are the result of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Airport Drug Interdiction Initiative, that targets international drug smuggling and financial crimes, including money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and unlicensed money transmitters/transporters that utilize air travel to further their criminal enterprise.  Through this initiative, HSI incorporates the collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies, to include CBP, North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Divisions of Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) and Department of Correction (DOC), and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.  

Sanjeev Bhasker, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte prosecuted both cases.