A Delta baggage handler accused of orchestrating a $300,000 theft is on trial this week in New York City, along with his alleged accomplice.
Quincy Thorpe and Emmanuel Auguo Okon are on trial in Brooklyn federal court for the theft of the money, which was stolen in September 2019.
Bags filled with $300,000 in cash would fly from JFK to Miami
The money bags filled with nearly $300,000 in cash that a Delta baggage handler allegedly smuggled out of JFK Airport have been pictured for the first time as he and his accomplice are on trial in New York.
Delta ground service employee Quincy Thorpe and his alleged accomplice Emmanuel Auquo Okon are currently on trial in Brooklyn federal court for the theft of the Miami-bound funds, which were stolen in September 2019.
During their trial on Wednesday, prosecutor John Vagelatos said the two left behind evidence that tied the crime to themselves.
According to the New York Post, he said: ‘The money was gone, but the defendants had made a huge mistake. They had left behind hard evidence of the crime.”
Vagelatos described Brooklyn-based Thorpe as the “inside man” in the trick, as he worked for the airport and was responsible for loading bags of cash onto the flight.
The $258,200 pictured here disappeared when the bags scanned by Thorpe were loaded onto the New York plane that was scheduled to land in Miami.
Quincy Thorpe, left, and Emmanuel Okon, right, are charged with conspiracy to steal cargo and cargo theft in connection with the theft of a bag containing approximately $258,205 in currency
The $258,200 – plus more in foreign currency – disappeared as the bags scanned by Thorpe were loaded onto a New York plane that was scheduled to land in Miami.
Thorpe was allegedly caught on camera taking one of the bags from an armored car and loading it into a white van rather than during the flight.
Prosecutors allege that Thorpe, who had gone home sick around the time of the apparent theft, and another person then drove the van to Okon on the public side of the airport and handed over the money.
The outlet reported that the FBI later found Okon’s car days after the theft, and found receipts from the armored car company and Delta freight tags for the shipment.
Thorpe was later tracked down and arrested days later, while Okon was later captured following his friend’s arrest.
Outside court, his attorney Lonnie Hart Jr. claimed. Wednesday that his client had been used as a patsy by the airline and security company Loomis, which was tasked with protecting the money.
According to the Post, Hart told the court in his opening statement: “Someone has to pay for it and the appropriate person in this case is my client, Quincy Thorpe, because he was in fact responsible for loading that particular flight. ‘
Delta Airlines Boeing 777 passenger aircraft are maintained at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport
The trial, taking place in Brooklyn Federal Court, is expected to last the rest of the week
He added: ‘He is a scapegoat for someone else’s incompetence.’
Hart also claimed that the actual man responsible, Jeremy Hollingsworth, was driving the white van and was the real perpetrator.
Hollingsworth is expected to take the government’s stand later in the trial, which is expected to last the rest of the week.
On Wednesday, several Delta and Loomis employees took the stand, describing how the bags of cash were handled before Thorpe gained custody of them and afterward
According to the Daily news from New YorkOkon’s attorney, Douglas Rankin, said, “Money was stolen.
“Whether it was Miami, whether it was New York, money was stolen. A quarter of a million dollars gets someone arrested and prosecuted, and it’s not always the right person.
“There’s no question there’s no video of it [Thorpe] steal the money. The most guarded airport in the world, no video.”
Thorpe and Okon are charged with conspiracy to steal cargo and cargo theft, according to the newspaper, and face the possibility of 10 years behind bars.
It is unclear who the security company worked for and who is the rightful owner of the money.
