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Immigrant caught smuggling 4 pounds of cocaine through JFK to be deported

May 10, 2017 By Ahmed Jallow Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn federal courthouse. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
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A woman who pleaded guilty for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. is set to be deported after U.S District Court Judge Allyne R. Ross on Tuesday sentenced her to time served.

Luvetta Abraham, a St. Lucian native in her late 20s, has already served 10 months in federal prison in Manhattan and her attorney Sally J.M. Butler said she is working with federal officials to expedite her removal from the country due to her client’s medical condition.

Butler said she is hoping to bypass immigration proceedings because she is worried that her client, who is suffering from sickle cell anemia and regularly needs medical attention, will not receive the medical care needed while in an immigration detention center.

Before the sentence was announced, Butler urged the judge to consider the fact that her client had been cooperative with federal officials and that she had been a victim of manipulation by her boyfriend, who is also charged with the same crime.

“Her motivating factor was in fact Mr. Price [her boyfriend],” her lawyer said. “Mr. Price said to her, ‘You will do this if you love me.’”

The single mother voiced her regret in an emotional statement to the court asking for forgiveness.

“I apologize to the court and the people of this country, to my family and my children,” she said crying. “I wish I hadn’t made the decision that I made, that I had never allowed anyone to influence my judgment.”

In July of 2016, as Abraham was deplaning a United Airlines plane at JFK International Airport at around 10 p.m., agents observed Abraham acting suspiciously — turning to look behind her numerous times.

Agents pulled her aside for additional screening and discovered about four pounds of cocaine in her possession.

She then identified Corbin Wayne Price, her boyfriend, as her co-conspirator who was also arrested at the airport and taken to a separate room for questioning.

Price has also pleaded guilty.

 

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