Jury finds 80-year-old veteran not guilty of trying to smuggle meth through DFW Airport
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A jury has found 80-year-old Vietnam veteran Roy Payne not guilty of trying to smuggle drugs through DFW Airport earlier this year.
Before his arrest in February, Payne had no previous criminal record, and both his family and attorney said he was caught up in a fraud scheme by international drug cartels.
Outside the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Worth, Payne's family couldn't contain their emotions.
"I had to let it out," said his daughter Brenda Tressendorf. "We need to take care of our elderly."
Her father was facing the possibility of six-and-a-half years in prison on drug trafficking charges, but walked out a free man Wednesday.
"The law is always right. I'm not guilty," Payne said. "It's been a long, hard journey. A lot of worry and a lot of expense."
Payne was acquitted despite the fact that he had seven pounds of methamphetamine hidden in his luggage while going through customs.
Federal prosecutors charged him even though he was actually a victim of a financial scam that sent him to Mexico thinking he had won an international lottery.
He was given a bag with meth hidden inside a bag and was told it was bank records that he needed to take back and pick up his winnings.
"We need to protect our parents, our elderly against all the scams that the government knows are scams," said his son, Darryl.
Payne is the latest of several elderly victims who have been ensnared in a federal drug enforcement program known as Operation Cocoon.
Authorities around the world track one-way tickets purchased in drug trafficking hotspots and search those coming through customs.
But a number of them, including Payne, are being lured by traffickers using financial scams to unwittingly transport illegal drugs across the border.
"There's a lot of people who come out and scam anyone and everyone. But it's our elderly who fall for this kind of stuff. But the government decided...instead of being a victim, they try him like he's some kind of criminal. Unfortunately, this had to go through the court."