Former Airport Baggage Handler Pleads Guilty To Smuggling Scheme

OAKLAND, CA — A former Southwest Airlines baggage handler will be sentenced in federal court in Oakland on June 6 for his role in a ring that smuggled marijuana through Oakland International Airport. Keith Mayfield, 37, of Oakland, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton on Wednesday to three counts: entering an airport area in violation of security requirements; conspiring to distribute marijuana; and conspiring to launder money.

Mayfield is one of 13 people indicted by a federal grand jury in 2015 on charges of participating in a nationwide conspiracy to smuggle marijuana grown in Northern California to at least 10 other states. He is the 11th to plead guilty. The others pleaded guilty to distributing marijuana or entering a secured airport area or both and were sentenced to terms ranging from six months to two years and three months in prison.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Abraham Simmons said Mayfield admitted during his plea that on at least 40 occasions between 2013 and 2015 he smuggled luggage containing at least 551 pounds of marijuana to passengers who had already cleared the security screening. Mayfield also admitted to smuggling another 220 pounds of marijuana via Southwest Cargo to various cities for distribution, Simmons said.

He additionally admitted to laundering drug proceeds by having associates deposit $51,000 in cash gained from sales in bank branches in Texas. Mayfield later withdrew most of that money in Northern California,
Simmons said.

The other defendants included two other baggage handlers, six couriers who allegedly carried the marijuana luggage onto planes and four people accused of aiding in packaging and selling the marijuana. Mayfield faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for the marijuana conspiracy conviction and possible maximum sentences of 10 and 20 years for the other two convictions.

The judge will consider advisory federal sentencing guidelines before determining the penalty. He is free on $200,000 bail while awaiting sentencing.

By Bay City News

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