John McCarthy
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas airport traveler who packed a pocket pistol and its gun magazine into his son’s checked luggage admitted as much in federal court on Wednesday, authorities said.
Wayne Smith pled guilty in U.S. District Court to causing a firearm to be present in a federal facility, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said on Thursday.
Sentencing has been scheduled for October 29, 2020.
According to court documents filed in the case, on March 21, Smith was a ticketed JetBlue Airways passenger at the Cyril E. King Airport.
He checked luggage that contained a Ruger LCP pistol and magazine, without notifying the airline or the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that the luggage contained a firearm.
The TSA subsequently discovered the firearm at the federal security checkpoint in the airport.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Sleeper.
