In U.S. District Court on St. Croix on Wednesday, visiting Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced Zion Hazel, 24, of St. Croix, to 27 months in prison on the charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced.
According to court documents, on April 12, 2018, Zion Hazel, along with co-defendants Keithley Parris and Don-Luke George, conspired to bring two kilograms of cocaine into the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport with the intent to transport the cocaine to Miami via American Airlines Flight 2227.
George, who was employed at the airport, smuggled four bricks of cocaine into the passenger waiting area of the airport and delivered them to Hazel in the handicap stall of the men’s restroom. Hazel was a passenger on the outgoing American Airlines flight but was intercepted with the cocaine prior to boarding his flight by Customs and Border Protection officers, Shappert said.
Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. The DEA Southeast Laboratory in Miami analyzed the cocaine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel H. Huston prosecuted the case.