CHARLOTTE, N.C. – United States Attorney Andrew Murray
announced today that a former Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Officer was sentenced to 25 years in prison on drug trafficking conspiracy and
gun charges. U.S. District Judge Robert
J. Conrad, Jr. also sentenced Jamie Blunder, 50, of Charlotte, to five years of
supervised release.
According to filed court documents, exhibits entered at
Blunder’s trial, witness testimony, and today’s sentencing hearing, from 2002
to 2016, Blunder was part of a drug conspiracy responsible for trafficking
large quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine.
Blunder and his network of co-conspirators transported and distributed
the narcotics in Charlotte, Greensboro, N.C., Greenville, N.C., and elsewhere. According to court records, Blunder did not
utilize the Charlotte Douglas Airport to traffic narcotics, though, at times,
he relied on his TSA position to avoid law enforcement detection while
travelling between and within, the Jamestown, N.C., High Point, N.C. and
Greensboro areas. Over the course of the
investigation, law enforcement seized at least eight firearms, more than two
kilograms of cocaine and more than $150,000 in cash.
On July 7, 2017, a federal jury convicted Blunder of
conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and
crack cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
crime.
Four of Blunder’s co-conspirators have already been
sentenced. Aaron Dixon, 41, of
Greenville, N.C., was sentenced to 75 months in prison and three years of supervised
release; David Pate, 45, of High Point, was sentenced to 67 months in prison
and three years of supervised release; Samuel Little, 60, of Greensboro, was
sentenced to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release; and Irvin
Lampley, 58, of Greensboro, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and three
years of supervised release.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked
the FBI for leading the investigation, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the
Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, and TSA for their invaluable
assistance with this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lambert Guinn and Dana Washington
of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are in charge of the prosecution.
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