'Somebody gave her the bag': Dad defends JetBlue flight attendant accused of transporting $3 million worth of cocaine in two suitcases at LAX
- Marsha Gay Reynolds was found with 11 packages of cocaine wrapped in green cellophane and labeled, 'BIG Ranch' inside one of her bags
- On the streets of Los Angeles, Massino said the retail value of the cocaine could be as high as $3 million
- After she was flagged for random security at LAX, she flung her heels and did a runner barefoot
- Her father claims that his daughter didn't know what was in the bag
- But prosecutors suggested that she may have smuggled before
The
father of a JetBlue flight attendant and former beauty queen accused of
trying to transport $3 million worth of cocaine in two suitcases says
the bags didn't belong to her.
'Somebody
gave her the bag,' said Marcia Gay Reynolds' father, who refused to
give his name, to the New York Post on Sunday. The newspaper visited his
home in Jamaica, Queens.
Reynolds'
father said his daughter told her that she didn't know what was inside
the suitcase - a story that prosecutors are having a tough time
believing.
Flight
attendant: Marsha Gay Reynolds, former runner up for Miss Jamaica World
in 2008 (pictured), was arrested in New York on Wednesday. Police say
she left two suitcases filled with cocaine at security in LAX
In court: Reynolds appeared in court
Wednesday, where her defense has said that she 'may not have been fully
aware what was in her bag', as prosecutors suggested she had smuggled
before
Bob Geldof reveals he considered suicide after his daughter...
How small is too small? Inside the 28 sq ft, $500-month...
Share this article
'She broke down, of course,' the father sad of his daughter with whom he spent a little time before officers put her in jail.
'I’m not in a good place right now,' he added.
The
Post also talked to a friend of Reynolds who said that he is in
'shock.'He met her at a photo shoot in 2006 and they stayed in contact.
He told the paper that he helped her with her English homework while she was a student at NYU.
“I only remember her as the nice, thoughtful, beautiful girl who was going to college, working and keeping in shape,' he said.
Reynolds, a former Jamaican beauty queen and college track athlete, turned herself in Wednesday to face a federal drug charge.
Authorities
said they found 70 pounds of cocaine in her luggage at LAX on March 18
after she was flagged for a random security screening, flung off her
high heels and bolted barefoot down an upward-moving escalator.
They said she ran out of the terminal and crossed the country to New York.
Reynolds'
spokesman Allan Jennings, representing her family and her defense
lawyer, said: 'She may not have been fully aware of what was in the
bags.'
Heavy duty: The cocaine weighed just
over 68 pounds. Wholesale, the drugs would be worth about $ $3 million
on the streets of Los Angeles
But
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia Washington told a court that last week
was 'not the only time the defendant has engaged in this conduct.'
Washington didn't elaborate, and Jennings said he was surprised by the claim.
A
U.S. magistrate judge set bail for Reynolds at $500,000 and then warned
her parents and two friends from her church they could lose their homes
if she flees.
He gave prosecutors a day to appeal before Reynolds can be freed.
Reynolds, a 31-year-old Jamaican-born U.S. citizen, graduated from New York University and ran track there.
She was a runner-up in the Miss Jamaica World 2008 pageant, which sends the country's representative to Miss World contests.
Leaders
of the Jamaica pageant were 'shocked and surprised' at news of
Reynolds' arrest, said organizer Laura Butler, who doesn't know
Reynolds.
She
said Reynolds apparently had traveled to Jamaica to compete while
living in New York, as the contest allows for women of Jamaican heritage
living elsewhere.
Reynolds
arrived last week at a security checkpoint in LAX's Terminal 4 wearing
jeans, heels and a black suit jacket and carrying her known crew member
badge, an FBI agent's sworn statement said. She was off duty at the
time.
Caught: LAX police found 11 packages
of cocaine wrapped in green cellophane and labeled, 'BIG Ranch' inside
one of the bags Reynolds had allegedly left behind
Asked
to step aside for a random check, Reynolds nervously looked around and
made a cellphone call as she was led to a screening area, the statement
said.
When
a Transportation Security Administration officer asked her for
identification, she dropped her bag, ditched her Gucci shoes and took
off, an affidavit said.
A TSA officer said he didn't pursue her because his primary concern was her abandoned luggage.
In it was just over 68 pounds of cocaine, worth as much as $3 million on the streets of Los Angeles, authorities said.
JetBlue Airways Corp., which suspended Reynolds, said it was cooperating with the investigation.
Prosecutors said Reynolds 'took advantage of her position as a crew member' and 'abused the trust' she had.
If convicted, Reynolds could face at least 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.
The
TSA has been concerned about security threats from insiders, including
airline and airport employees, particularly after several baggage
handlers were arrested in December 2014 on charges of smuggling guns
from Atlanta to New York.
The TSA has said it would be too expensive to screen all employees fully.
Instead, it has urged airports to increase random screenings of workers and to keep background checks up to date.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.