A South Bay man who pleaded guilty to smuggling methamphetamine at the airport has been sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison.
Felix Samuel Garcia, 31, was allowed to remain free on $150,000 bond until Sept. 25 when he will surrender to begin an 87-month term imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Barry Moskowitz.
Garcia wrote a letter to the judge which stated that he has been sober 515 days, which is the longest time he has been sober in his adult life. He was working as a Delta Global Service baggage handler at the San Diego International Airport and was among 11 people indicted in March 2014 on drug smuggling charges.
Garcia grew up in Chula Vista and attended Eastlake High School. He and his family were living with relatives when their Imperial Beach residence was raided by federal agents.
“Now I see all the harm I’ve caused other people and the effects due to me participating in the distribution of drugs at the airport,” wrote Garcia.
“If I had not been using, I would have been thinking more clearly and never would have been talked into doing the things I did,” wrote Garcia.
Garcia and three other baggage handlers used their security badges to smuggle meth and they passed the drugs in baggies in the men’s restrooms to drug couriers as there were no cameras in the toilet areas.
Garcia’s attorney recommended a 51-month sentence, while the prosecutor urged a 10-year term. Garcia pleaded guilty to possession of meth with intent to distribute. After his arrest, he underwent 30 days of inpatient drug treatment, he wrote.
The sentencing of another former baggage handler, Paulo Mendez Perez, 37, of Chula Vista, was delayed until Sept. 11. Mendez pleaded guilty to possession of meth with intent to distribute and a prosecutor is seeking a 97-month term, according to court records. A third baggage handler, Saul Bojorquez Aviles, 27, of Chula Vista, was earlier sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to possession cocaine with intent to distribute.
