A Hamilton man is facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for a 2019 incident in which he tried to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. with a helicopter.
The accused, Raminderjit Assi, 28, pleaded guilty before a U.S. district judge on Friday, conceding he and an accomplice flew a helicopter from Canada into U.S. airspace April 9, 2019 and left four red duffle bags at Beaver Island Park on Grand Island.
“Before the bags could be collected by another co-conspirator, U.S. Border Patrol located the bags,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release.
“The bags contained a total of 49 kilograms of marijuana.”
Radar data from U.S. and Canadian authorities determined Assi and his associate turned off the transponder on their helicopter, failed to check in with flight towers and failed to submit a flight plan.
Surveillance footage showed the two departed from a helipad in Canada and later returned in the same helicopter.
Assi later admitted he had flown the chopper.
He is expected to be sentenced on Oct. 16 in a Buffalo, N.Y., court.