SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- A man from Oakland, a major coast city in the western U.S. state of California, was sentenced to almost 20 years in prison for a conspiracy to smuggle drugs at Oakland International Airport, a court announced Monday.
Jeremy Luckett, 38, received the verdict after pleading guilty in May of shipping 50 or more grams of methamphetamine, a strong nervous system stimulant, through a security checkpoint at the Oakland airport.
Luckett got the drugs past security by collaborating with a Southwest Airlines employee. He was also accused of his role in recruiting and paying his drug couriers in the smuggling conspiracy.
Local media said U.S. District Judge Hayward Gilliam Jr. handed down the sentence, which was announced by the U.S. Attorney for the northern district of California on Monday.
Luckett was found to be part of a smuggling ring at the Oakland airport, in which couriers could pick drugs up and carry them aboard flights for Hawaii, a popular destination for tourists, from 2011 to 2014.
Luckett was arrested after the smuggling ring was busted in 2014 when one of his couriers was detained. The female courier was founded to be carrying 3.7 pounds (1.7 kilograms) of pure methamphetamine and 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of cocaine on a flight to Hawaii.
