A St. Thomas man has pleaded guilty to drug possession charges, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Thursday.
Ahkoi Smith, 24, a St. Thomas native residing in Florida, pleaded guilty before District Court Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, according to the press release.
Smith’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1, where he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years imprisonment, not less than three years of supervised release and a maximum fine of $1,000,000, the press release stated.
According to court documents, on Jan. 11, Smith was a ticketed passenger on a Spirit Airlines flight from St. Thomas to Fort Lauderdale. On that day, Smith entered the restroom near the concession area of the Cyril E. King Airport, where he took possession of two bricks of cocaine from Shakari Francis, a Cape Air employee. Federal agents approached Smith as he attempted to board his flight, after which Smith threw his backpack containing the two bricks of cocaine to the tarmac and ran onto the active runway. Smith was immediately apprehended by federal agents and placed under arrest. On June 26, Francis pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard E. Potter. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational 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.
