Two former Transportation Security Administration agents from Atlanta could be facing serious jail time and fines for trying to smuggle drugs, which turned out to be fake, through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Richard Cook, II, 27, of Henry County and Timothy Gregory, 25, of Dekalb County were indicted on Tuesday for crimes related to smuggling what they thought was cocaine and heroin on different occasions. If they are convicted, they could face life in prison and $10 million in fines for helping undercover agents transport fake drugs through the airport, according to The Associated Press.
While they were still TSA employees at the airport, the men both conspired with undercover federal agents who they thought were members of a drug cartel. They planned to transport more than 10 kilograms of the drugs on different occasions. However they didn't know that the drugs were fake.
Cook started smuggling in January. While in uniform, he would move the fake drug packages through security checkpoints and he was paid thousands of dollars to do so. Prosecutors said Cook stopped smuggling in February, but he had recruited Gregory to continue the process. When Cook introduced Gregory to the drug traffickers, who were really undercover officers, Cook received a referral fee of $1,000.
"Our nation's well-being depends, in part, on the security of its airports," U.S. Attorney Sally Yates said in a release. "The crimes with which Cook and Gregory are charged created a breach in the security of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and betrayed the trust of millions of passengers who travel through this airport each year."
Gregory also agreed to transport 10 kilograms of what he thought was cocaine, from Atlanta to Cumming.
The fact that the drugs weren't even real doesn't matter according to federal conspiracy laws. Just the act of conspiring to smuggle drugs, whether fake or not, is a crime in itself.
"In drug conspiracies you don't need to have an overt act," said former federal prosecutor and Atlanta criminal defense attorney Howard Jarrett Weintraub, as quoted by Creative Loafing Atlanta. "It appears from the indictment they definitely entered into an agreement to do that and committed overt acts to further that agreement."
The issue is being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and Department of Homeland Security-Office of the Inspector General.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
