A former American Airlines mechanic at JFK International Airport was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to nine years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to import and possess cocaine.
Paul Belloisi, 56, of Smithtown, Long Island, was convicted in May 2023 following a one-week jury trial of all three counts in a federal indictment charging him with conspiring to possess and import cocaine and importing cocaine.
On Feb. 4, 2020, American Airlines flight 1349 arrived at JFK Airport’s Terminal 8 from Montego Bay, Jamaica. The aircraft was selected for a routine search by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from the JFK Airport Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team. The CBP officers found ten bricks of cocaine weighing 25.56 pounds hidden inside an electronics compartment on the underside of the cockpit.
CBP replaced the cocaine with fake bricks and sprayed it with a substance that glows when illuminated with a special black light. Additionally, the contraband team installed transponders on the fake drugs that would send a signal if the area was disturbed. CBP officers and special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) placed the aircraft under surveillance from a distance. Shortly before it was scheduled to take off for its next flight, they observed Belloisi drive up and pull himself inside the electronics compartment. Belloisi was confronted by law enforcement, who saw his gloves glowing under the black light, indicating he had handled the fake bricks. Belloisi was also carrying an empty tool bag, and the lining of his jacket had cutouts sufficiently large enough to hold the bricks.
The cocaine that was seized in the aircraft had a street value of more than $250,000.
“The defendant abused his insider position at JFK Airport to help smuggle more than 25 pounds of cocaine into the United States in a highly sensitive electronics compartment of an international aircraft,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “This conduct not only furthers the trafficking of drugs that harms our communities but also poses a threat to the security of a vital border crossing in our district and our transportation infrastructure.”
U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry sentenced Belloisi on Sept. 6 to 108 months in prison.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates that the government takes these threats very seriously,” Peace said. “And those who work in trusted positions at our airports and in other critical industries must know that they face serious consequences for crimes of corruption.”
HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge Darren McCormack said he was proud to stand alongside the Eastern District of New York and CBP in bringing the corrupt ‘inside man’ to justice.
“Paul Belloisi put his personal gain before the safety of the aviation industry by abusing his position to participate in a scheme to import over 25 pounds of cocaine into the U.S., repeatedly storing smuggled narcotics within sensitive areas of passenger planes,” McCormack said. “His demise should send a message to anyone attempting to exploit the aviation industry: HSI New York and our law enforcement partners are committed to maintaining the safety of the U.S. domestic and international transportation infrastructure.”
