FORMER AMERICAN AIRLINES EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR LEADING A CRIMINAL DRUG ENTERPRISE INVOLVING CORRUPT AIRLINE DISPATCHERS AND BAGGAGE HANDLERS
Earlier today, former American Airlines baggage handler Victor Bourne, a Barbadian national, was sentenced to life in prison for his leadership of an international drug trafficking organization (the “Bourne Organization”) that smuggled cocaine from the Carribean into the United States through John F. Kennedy International Airport. The sentencing proceeding was held before United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Bourne was convicted of narcotics trafficking offenses and money laundering following a month-long trial in October 2011.