A customs agent from Stockbridge, nabbed in one of the biggest ecstasy seizures in U.S. history, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to launder drug money and attempting to smuggle guns onto an airplane.
In an unrelated case, Devon Samuels, 45, and his wife, Keisha Jones, a former Delta employee, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit marriage fraud. Samuels faces up to 45 years in prison and fines that could total $1 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The couple were among 14 people arrested last December after parallel investigations turned up $2.8 million worth of ecstasy, about 700,000 tabs of the amphetamine-like drug, stored at a residence in Chamblee. It was the largest ecstasy seizure in the United States in 2010, said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, and the ninth largest in U.S. history.
David D'Amato, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the veteran customs agent was the "head of the snake" of this criminal enterprise, adding Samuels sold his services to the highest bidder.
A federal agent, posing as a money launderer, first made contact with Samuels on Nov. 3. Samuels, also known as "Smokey," was given $22,000 he believed was generated from drug sales, federal agents said.
According to investigators, Samuels used his security clearance to avoid screening checkpoints at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport en route to Jamaica, where he delivered the money to a local police officer acting as an international drug trafficker.
Samuels and his wife returned to Jamaica on Nov. 19 after accepting another $50,000 in alleged drug funds, according to a federal indictment. Samuels was given $20,000, along with five firearms, on Nov. 30 by an undercover officer who instructed the customs agent to deliver the package to the airport. There, he was met by another incognito agent, who told Samuels he was headed to Arizona for a meeting with members of a Mexican drug cartel.
The ecstasy and marijuana trafficking ring supplied "the lion's share of ecstasy coming into this region," said Rod Benson, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency, following Samuels' arrest.
In the marriage fraud case, the U.S. Attorney said Samuels, using his knowledge of immigration policy, assisted a Decatur couple in deceiving immigration authorities into accepting their sham marriage as genuine. Samuels and Keisha Jones, his wife, were paid to complete the paperwork needed to obtain citizenship.
The Stockbridge couple faces five years in prison apiece and fines of up to $250,000 individually in fraud case. Samuels' other charges carry maximum 20-year sentences and fines totaling $750,000, the U.S. Attorney said.
Samuels and Jones' sentencing is scheduled for June 2.
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