CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A former airline employee admitted to drug trafficking charges in federal court in connection to attempting to transport cocaine through the St. Thomas airport.
Shakari Francis, 27, of St. Thomas, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Molloy to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
Francis faces a maximum sentence of 40 years imprisonment, not less than three years of supervised release and a maximum fine of $1,000,000.00, she said.
According to court documents, Francis worked at Cape Air as a ramp agent at the Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas. On January 11, 2023, Francis entered the airport using his secured access with two bricks of cocaine.
Francis later met Ahkoy Smith, a ticketed passenger on Spirit Airline’s flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the restrooms located next to the concession area where Francis delivered the two bricks of cocaine to Smith.
Federal agents arrested Francis and attempted to arrest Smith as he boarded his flight. When approached by the agents,
Smith removed his backpack and threw it to the tarmac and ran onto the active runway. He was
apprehended by federal agents and placed under arrest and charged with possession with intent
to distribute cocaine. Smith entered a plea agreement with the United States to change his plea
from not guilty to guilty.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is being prosecuted
by Assistant United States Attorney Everard Potter.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligencedriven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.