A Guyanese woman who was held at JFK Airport in New York in November 2014 with around 30 lbs of cocaine is currently serving a sentence of 27 months.
Melissa Cox pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally importing a controlled substance into the United States, according to court documents seen by Stabroek News, and was sentenced on December 10 last year. She also faced a count of knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance but this was disposed of after a proffer with the government.
The US government had sought to have Cox imprisoned for a period of between 37 and 46 months, arguing that she had brought almost 30 pounds of cocaine into the country and knew that she would have been paid a substantial sum for carrying two sizeable suitcases. “The defendant made a knowing choice to bring drugs into the United States and should be held accountable for that choice”, the US argued. Judge Eric N Vitaliano eventually settled for 27 months.
Cox was held with two milk tins and two flour bags, all of which contained cocaine that amounted to 13.02 kilogrammes.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Cox, she arrived at the airport from Guyana on Caribbean Airlines flight BW 524 when she was approached by a Customs Border Protection officer, who asked whether two suitcases in her possession belonged to her.
She indicated that they did and when the suitcases were searched they were found to contain, among other things, two milk tins and two bags labelled Chappati flour. The tins and bags were examined and they were found to contain cocaine.
Cox waived her Miranda rights and agreed to be interviewed, during which she revealed that she knew that her suitcases contained cocaine and that she expected to be paid in exchange for transporting the drugs by another individual, whom she expected to meet in the US.
