Man smuggled 880 pounds of pot from San Francisco to Charlotte on airliners
A New York man was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison on Monday for smuggling more than 880 pounds of pot on commercial flights from San Francisco to Charlotte.
By comparison, an adult female polar bear can weigh up to 880 pounds, according to the Ontario, Canada, Ministry of Natural Resources.
Lavon Williams, 38, of Jamaica, N.Y., flew at least 11 times between the cities with about 40 pounds of marijuana each trip, prosecutors said.
The flights were from October 2014 to February 2015, when co-conspirator Thajuan Brown was arrested at Charlotte Douglas International Airport with 46 pounds of marijuana, according to court records. Six days later, police arrested Williams after finding him with $40,000 in drug proceeds at San Francisco’s airport.
Williams was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Two others connected to the ring remain fugitives: Pierre Buissereth, 35, of New York, and Toccara Quantavia King, 35, of Virginia.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Homeland Security investigations office at 704-679-6140.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published May 22, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Man smuggled 880 pounds of pot from San Francisco to Charlotte on airliners."