LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Federal prosecutors say two suspected drug couriers have agreed to plead guilty in a case where Transportation Security Administration screeners were bribed to smuggle marijuana onto planes leaving Los Angeles International Airport.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Tuesday that Charles Hicks and Andrew Welter have agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy. They each face up to five years in prison.
Court documents show the two men used an intermediary who would pay up to $500 for each piece of luggage carrying marijuana that made it through security screening.
The two TSA employees named in court documents have not been charged.
In April, federal prosecutors also charged four former TSA employees in another bribery scheme to sneak large amounts of cocaine through airport checkpoints.