DOJ: 3 sentenced to federal prison for drug-fueled shooting at GSP airport
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The United States Attorney’s Office said three men were sentenced to federal prison after an attempted drug robbery led to a gun fight a parking garage at the Greenville-Spartanburg International airport (GSP).
According to officials, in January of 2022, 21-year-old Tyree Laquan Smith and another man flew into GSP from Los Angeles carrying approximately fifty pounds of marijuana in two suitcases. These two men, 23-year-old Jaondre Zidarius Collier, had previously traveled from Charlotte to Miami to shoot music videos and then flown to California to purchase marijuana.
Officials said Collier and his girlfriend flew into Charlotte and then drove to GSP to pick up Smith and the other trafficker. Unbeknownst to them, 21-year-old Dequandry Kendrick Razor and a coconspirator were sitting in a car outside the terminal, waiting to rob them. Information presented to the court showed that Razor and others had successfully robbed marijuana traffickers flying into GSP on multiple prior occasions.
After loading their suitcases into the trunk of Collier’s car, officials said Smith and his companion climbed into the backseat. Collier pulled into a parking garage adjacent to the terminal, where the traffickers planned to transfer some of the marijuana into another vehicle. As they began to get out of the car, Razor and his coconspirator rushed in with pistols drawn, and a gunfight broke out. Smith was shot attempting to get out of the vehicle, and the would-be robbers fled without the suitcases, as the traffickers returned fire.
Collier remained at the scene, and responding law enforcement found the suitcases of marijuana in his trunk and two pistols in his glovebox. Investigators quickly identified the car used by the robbers, which they found at a Columbia home where Razor was living. A search of the bedroom Razor was staying in revealed a large bag of marijuana and two handguns. One of these guns was forensically matched to shell casings recovered from the parking garage and from the well of the windshield of the robbers’ car.
Each suspect was charged with the following:
- Razor was sentenced to twenty years in prison after pleading guilty to armed robbery, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and possessing and discharging firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
- Collier and Smith were were sentenced to 68 months and 24 months after also pleading guilty to drug and gun offenses.
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