HIGH AND LOW

American Airlines Mechanic Gets Nine-Year Jail Sentence For Cocaine Smuggling

Federal agents said the mechanic snuck into a compartment on the bottom of the aircraft while passengers were boarding for the next flight to retrieve 25 pounds of cocaine.

An American Airlines mechanic was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday for transporting cocaine into the United States in the fuselage of a Boeing 737. Paul Belloisi, a 30-year employee of the airline, was not supposed to have cargo on the manifest of AA flight 1349 from Jamaica to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on April 4, 2020. According to The Washington Post federal agents said he began following the plane as soon as it landed, and snuck into a compartment on the bottom of the aircraft while passengers were boarding for the next flight to retrieve 25 pounds of cocaine that was left for him, worth about $250,000 in retail. Unbeknownst to Belloisi, customs agents searched the plane earlier, found the cocaine, and replaced it with fake bricks. When border agents met him as he exited the compartment, he asked, “What’s up, guys?”, according to court records. Belloisi's lawyers said there was no evidence he was involved in trafficking and that his sentencing was too harsh.