In a doctor’s coat with 15 kg of cannabis

An American man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison, including 12 months on probation, for his part in the importation of 15.1 kg of marijuana to Iceland in May. In the Reykjanes District Court’s verdict, the story of the man who claimed to have come here as a treatment counsellor for drug-addicts sounds improbable and bears the hallmark of being false in all main points. In the story, Ms. T., Costastal Connect and an old childhood friend, Frankie Sims, who had a bag in a safe at Keflavik Airport, are included among others.

The case was originally traced to an attempt to check in two bags on a flight from Baltimore, USA. This is not supposed to be possible unless the passenger is on board himself, but this time it seems that one of these bags made it on board. The bag was marked Frankie Sims.

Dressed in scrubs and a white medical robe

Seven days later, a man named Devonta Carroll, who is also the defendant in this case, showed up at the passenger service at Keflavik airport and asked about the bag. He said he was a friend of Sims and he gave him sufficient evidence to pick up the bag. It caught the attention of a staff member that Carroll was dressed in pink scrubs and a white medical robe.

However, in these cases, bags must be taken through a customs inspection and Carroll accepted that and went to the customs-guard’s search facility where the bag was screened. During that time, he requested to go to a restriin and was given permission to do so, but did not return. It turned out he had gone directly through the customs and decided against checking the situation with the bag.

A childhood friend he hadn’t met in more than a decade

The bag was found to contain a number of large, airtight black packages. One of them was opened, but it was in triple plastic, and then a smell of cannabis erupted. Then Carroll was searched for and found in the arrival hall.  He said he was amazed by all of this.

Lengthy and improbable explanations followed from Carroll, all that seemed to have little basis in reality. He said that he first of all knew little about Frankie Sims. They had been childhood friends, but had not been in a relationship since they were 10-11 years old, or for over a decade. They had, however, recently met outside a shopping mall in Maryland, USA, and decided to exchange phone numbers.

Not with a patient name or reservation

According to Carroll’s story, Frankie had then contacted him and asked if he could pick up the bag that had been forgotten at the airport. Additionally, Carroll said during a police report that the reason he came to Iceland was that he was a member of the health care company Medix in the United States and that he was supposed to meet a possible client here in Iceland.

It was also stated that he had worked at a treatment center for substance abuse patients. It was then decided to send him to Iceland two hours in advance of the trip, but Carroll did not have a reservation here nor knew the name of the patient, nor what kind of service was to be given.

Confirmation from an icloud.com email address

The defence of Carroll sent an email to the police, which was supposed to be a confirmation of Carroll's work for Medix, but it was a mail from a woman named Ashley with an email address that ended in @icloud.com. In the email there was a mention of Brittany who was supposed to be in the human resources department of Medix and a phone number.

When the police called her number, Britt­any answered but did not introduce herself nor the company. When she was informed that this was the Icelandic police, she said first-hand that she worked at a company in health care. The police asked her to send an­ e­mail to the police­ so that a formal ­information ­be­quest could be sent, but Britt­any said that because she was very busy it would take a few days. No­ e­mail­ was­ ­received from her.

No connection to Iceland

The police also called the number of the company Medix. From there, a formal answer was received that neither the accused nor Britt­any were employees nor contractors of the company. It was also stated that there was no connection to Iceland nor that its employees or contractors travelled outside the United States to help patients.

At Home.care, the information was received that the man had been an independent contractor until 2018, but nothing after that. Carroll said he also worked for another company, MD MATT. The investigator found a company with MD MATT as part of his name and the defendant said it was the company where he worked. They were told that Carroll had worked at the company, but then stopped attending and was laid off more than a month ago.

Suspicious communication on Tel­egram

During a police inspection of Carroll's mobile phone, he was able to see communications on a Tel­egram channel, where he spoke with Ms. T and Co­astal Conn­ect, who he said were his niece and friend. In the communications it was possible to see how he was instructed through the process at the airport. He could not give an explanation. Later, he was told to flee when the customs was looking at the bag and Ms. T and Co­astal Conn­ect were trying to provide him with a flight from Keflavík to Paris.

The court finds that Carroll's testimony is untrue and not consistent. It is also unknown that patients in Iceland are cared for from the United States in the manner Carroll described. In fact, the court finds it very unlikely. "It is also very unlikely that you are sent there to see a possible client in Iceland without having any information about the person in question. It makes it even more unlikely that you were sent to Iceland for this purpose two hours in advance," the court finds.

“With a lot of tall tales and unbelievable”

The court also examines the relationship between Carroll and Sims, alleged childhood friends. Says that it must be considered very unlikely that a man who had not met Carroll for 10-15 years, except for one time at a shopping mall, asked him to pick up a bag of 15 kg of drugs without Carroll knowing anything about the bag. The judge said that the testimony is all “with a lot of great tall tales and unbelievable” and is all the more so because everything points to it being wrong in all the main issues.

It is also referred to that the testimony of a passenger service employee indicates that there was no misunderstanding that Carroll was actually going to pick up the bag. The communication on the Tel­egram indicates that he was not supposed to come to Iceland to see a possible patient, but rather to get closer to the bag. The plan to book a flight to Paris indicates that he was also on the wrong side of the law.

Scrubs and medical coat uncommon travelling clothes

The judge also states without a doubt that Carroll actually accepted the bag. He states that while the bag was never in his hands, he had already received it when a member of the luggage service took the bag with Carroll to the customs.

Finally, it is stated that it is very unusual that people travel in medical clothes, even if they travel to do work as doctors. Therefore, the clothing indicates that it was part of something abnormal, the court says.

However, it is noted that it cannot be claimed without any doubt that Carroll was the owner of the drugs or to have financed the import. In fact, the evidence indicates that more than him were involved in the import. It is therefore considered appropriate to sentence him to 15 months in prison, including 12 months on probation.