LOS ANGELES
A former JetBlue flight attendant admitted to trying to smuggle nearly 60 pounds of cocaine through a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport by using her “known crew-member” credentials.
Officials said Marsha Gay Reynolds plead guilty Monday to conspiring to traffic narcotics, officials announced Tuesday.
Reynolds, 32, of Jamaica, New York, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and to distribute cocaine.
Reynolds plead guilty in federal court. She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13 and is facing up to life in prison.
On March 18, Reynolds had just under 60 pounds of cocaine in her luggage as she attempted to board a JetBlue flight in Terminal 4 at LAX, according to court documents. After showing her official badge and identification to the Transport Security Administration officer on duty at the known crew member checkpoint, Reynolds was randomly selected for additional screening.
Reynolds was then escorted to a secondary screening area.
Upon arriving at this checkpoint, Reynolds dropped her luggage, removed her shoes, and fled the area, running down an upward-traveling escalator and away from TSA officers.
According to the “First Superseding Information,” Reynolds was working with an unindicted co-conspirator who supplied her with the narcotics seized at LAX, according to authorities.
The co-conspirator supplied Reynolds with narcotics and the proceeds of drug sales so she could transport them between Los Angeles and New York. Reynolds admitted these allegations when she pleaded guilty.
“This defendant violated the trust placed in her when she received clearance to travel through our nation’s airports without the typical security checks,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “This flight attendant played an important role in a significant narcotics-trafficking operation that posed a danger to the travelers and employees at major U.S. airports.”
Reynolds has been in custody since March 23, when she surrendered herself to the DEA at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.