Airline mechanic Paul Belloisi convicted of trying to smuggle cocaine hidden in compartment under airplane's cockpit
NEW YORK - An American Airlines mechanic was convicted Tuesday of smuggling cocaine through John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Paul Belloisi, 55, was found guilty of trying to smuggle 10 bricks of cocaine that were hidden inside an electronics compartment beneath the cockpit of an American Airlines flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica back in 2020.
Prosecutors say flight 1349 was selected for a routine search by Customs and Border Patrol officers, who found the bricks of cocaine - weighing more than 25 pounds. The officers then replaced the bricks with fakes, and sprayed the fakes with a substance that glows when a special light is used. Then they watched, and waited.
Prosecutors said just before the flight was about to take off for its next flight, Belloisi drove up to the plane and pulled himself into the compartment where the bricks were located. When they confronted him, they used a blacklight to illuminate his hands, and saw his gloves glowing, indicating he had handled the fake bricks.
A search revealed his tool bag was empty, and there were cutouts in his jacket that were, all in all, large enough to stash the bricks.
Belloisi was convicted on conspiracy, possession and importing cocaine charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
"As proven, the defendant was caught red-handed trying to facilitate the smuggling of a large stash of cocaine hidden in an electronics compartment of the aircraft," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. "This corrupt airline mechanic not only abused his position of trust and undermined the security of a vital border crossing in our district, but was also willing to potentially endanger the safety of travelers as well as the community."
