Okeyonna Njoku, 30, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced Thursday to eight months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute marijuana, acting U.S. Attorney Joycelyn Hewlett announced.
District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez also ordered Njoku to perform 300 hours of community service and pay a special assessment of $100.
Njoku pleaded guilty March 16 to one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. According to the plea agreement, on Oct. 15 at the Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection K-9 detected narcotics in a checked bag belonging to Njoku. Njoku had taken an American Airlines flight from Miami to St. Thomas. CBP officers examined the contents of the bag, resealed the bag, and placed it on the carousel for retrieval. When Njoku retrieved the bag, CBP officers seized and field-tested approximately 5.9 kilograms of marijuana from Njoku’s bags.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna A. Vlasova.