Airline Employees Charged With Cash Smuggling And Evading Airport Security Checkpoints In An Undercover Operation At Logan International Airport

BOSTON – Five commercial airline employees were charged today after an undercover operation revealed that they used their airport security clearances to secretly smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash past security checkpoints.

According to the charging documents, Rupert Crossley, 26, of Lynn, and Anthony Trotman, 24, of Boston, have agreed to plead guilty to separate informations. Alvin Leacock, 28, of Hollywood, Fla.; Eric Vick, 24, of Mattapan; and Dino Dunkley, 31, of Boston, were indicted by a federal grand jury. Crossley, Leacock, Vick, and Trotman, all JetBlue Airways ground operations crew members, and Dunkley, a Delta Air Lines customer service ramp agent, were each charged with money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States, namely, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), by entering Boston’s Logan International Airport with the intent to evade security procedures, and with the intent to commit a felony in a secure airport area.

According to the charging documents, each defendant used his individual airport security clearance to circumvent TSA security checkpoints and smuggle large amounts of cash from non-secure airport areas, such as curbside passenger drop-off/pick-up or public restrooms near baggage claim, to secure areas of the airport, such as passenger departure gates and, in some instances, aboard commercial airline flights at Logan International Airport. In return, each defendant received a cash payment from a cooperating witness involved in the investigation. It is alleged that nine money laundering transactions were completed, which involved approximately $417,000 in cash the defendants believed to be drug proceeds.

The most significant statutes charged provides a statutory sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was investigated with the assistance of the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and the Massachusetts State Police. The U.S. Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance and cooperation of Massachusetts Port Authority, JetBlue Airways Corporate Security and Delta Airlines. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos A. Lopez of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit and Dustin Chao of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.