Customs Officer Smuggled Drug Money And Guns Though ATL Airport

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Customs Officer Smuggled Drug Money And Guns Though ATL Airport By Daniel Baxter

		March 21, 2011 - Devon Samuels, 45, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer of Stockbridge Georgia, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to conspiring to launder drug money and attempting to smuggle guns onto an airplane. Samuels and his wife, Keisha Jones, 30, also of Stockbridge, Georgia, both also pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit marriage fraud in a separate case in federal court on Thursday. "Our citizens expect the federal government and its agents to protect the borders, and not use their badges as personal gateways for getting cash," said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates for the Northern District of Georgia.

?In this case, a federal customs officer smuggled guns and drug money for people he thought were international narcotics traffickers. At about the same time, he and his wife were running a corrupt marriage business on the side. Such officers can expect to see federal prison." Samuels, while working as a CBP officer, was charged in connection with three undercover sting operations with smuggling drug money and guns through Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. On Nov. 3, 2010, an undercover officer, posing as a drug money launderer, gave Samuels approximately $25,000 in U.S. currency represented to be from the sale of drugs. With the assistance of others, and by unlawfully using his badge to bypass security and avoid screening, Samuels smuggled the money through Atlanta's airport to Jamaica. Once in Jamaica, Samuels delivered the money to a Jamaican undercover police officer who was posing as an international drug trafficker. On Nov. 19, 2010, Samuels accepted over $50,000 in purported drug money from another undercover officer. He then traveled from Atlanta to Jamaica, where he delivered the money to Jamaican undercover police officers. While in Atlanta's airport, Samuels again unlawfully used his badge to bypass security and avoid being screened.

Finally, on Nov. 30, 2010, Samuels accepted five firearms and approximately $20,000 in alleged drug money from an undercover police officer. Samuels smuggled the firearms and money into the airport by using his badge to bypass security. Once inside the airport, he gave the firearms and money to a second undercover officer who had told Samuels that she was going to transport the firearms and money to Arizona for a meeting with members of a Mexican drug cartel.

In the marriage fraud scheme, beginning in Nov. 2009, Samuels used his knowledge of immigration policies to assist Carlton Ferguson, 35, and Dahlia McLaren, 30, both of Decatur, Ga., to deceive U.S. immigration authorities into believing that their sham marriage was genuine. Samuels and Jones were also paid to falsely complete the immigration paperwork necessary for McLaren to obtain U.S. citizenship through her sham marriage to Ferguson. Both Ferguson and McLaren have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and await sentencing.

		Samuels pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money, for which he could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to carry a weapon on to an aircraft, for which he could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Finally, Samuels and Jones have each pleaded guilty to one conspiring to commit marriage fraud, for which they could receive a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Other News Stories (For the latest news please checkout our home page) O?Hare Airport To Receive Federal Funding For Airport Improvements Omniflight Completes Level 1 Of The FAA SMS Program Aircraft Maintenance In America Who Is Fixing My Plane? NTEU Tells Congress CBP Staffing Must Be Increased Bernard von NotHaus Convicted of Minting His Own Currency United Airlines Mechanics Secure Tentative Agreement With Airline NTSB Urges Pilots To Be Vigilant For Meteorological Evaluation Towers TSA 2012 Budget Proposal Is The Right Path For Agency FAA Warns Rotorcraft Pilots On The Use Of Garmin 400/500 With TAWS IATA, Japan Crisis To Have Impact On Global Air Transport Markets CSeries Aircraft Has Permanent Home At ICAO Headquarters Lobby Boeing To Construct Second Oklahoma City Facility Airbus Rolls Out The Biggest Carbon Fuselage Panel For A350 XWB Aircraft FAA Issues Residential ?Through The Fence? Policy Northrop Completes Third Flight Of X-47B Unmanned Aircraft Sonex Aircraft Accepting Deposits On Folding Wing Sport Aircraft Midwest Airlines Flight Attendants Win Major Victory U.S Travel Association Unveils Air Travel Security Screening System Airline Ramp And Fleet Service Workers Receive Support To Unionize Open Travel Enrollment For Hispanic College Students Lanzate Program Sikorsky X2 Technology Wins Prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy Brazil Will Need To Improve Aviation Industry To Achieve Competitiveness Passenger Airline Employment Up 0.4 Percent First U.S. Russia Joint Open Skies Observation Flight Jeppesen Expands Commercial Airline Overlay Chart Library Deployment Of Floodwall At St. Paul Downtown Airport Underway How Changes In Magnetic North Are Impacting Airports Air Pollution From BP Oil Spill Reaching Far Beyond The Gulf