Allegedly Manipulated An X-Ray Machine To Allow Pot To Pass Undetected

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment unsealed last week, charging Kiana Scott Clark with conspiring to defraud the United States by obstructing, impeding, and interfering with the aviation security functions of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and conspiring to distribute controlled substances, announced Acting United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson, and TSA Office of Inspection, Investigations Division Special Agent in Charge Regan O. Fong.

According to the indictment, Clark, 28, of San Mateo, CA, is alleged to have used her position as a Transportation Security Officer corruptly to facilitate the smuggling of drugs into and through the Oakland International Airport for delivery throughout the United States.  Specifically, when her co-conspirators had carry-on baggage containing controlled substances, Clark operated the x-ray machine at the TSA security checkpoint deceptively and dishonestly, and permitted her co-conspirators to clear the TSA security checkpoint without the required screening of their baggage for explosives, incendiaries, weapons, and other threats to security.  Clark’s criminal conduct is alleged to have taken place no later than September 2013 through October 2015 and is alleged to have involved 100 kilograms and more of marijuana.

Clark was arrested on December 16, 2015, and made her initial appearance in federal court in Oakland on December 17, 2015. Clark is currently being held pending arraignment and appointment of counsel, and appeared before he Honorable Donna M. Ryu, U.S. Magistrate Judge, last Thursday. Fox news reports that she did not enter a plea at that hearing.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Clark is charged with two counts of conspiring to defraud the United States by obstructing, impeding, and interfering with the TSA, and two counts of conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000, for each fraud charge, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison, a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and a fine of $5,000,000 on the intent to distribute charge; conviction on a second count carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.  However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence.

This case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions and National Security Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office, and is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, and TSA Office of Inspection, Investigations Division.

FMI: www.justice.gov/usao-ndca