NEW YORK: A Connecticut woman convicted of smuggling $45,000 worth of cocaine in her luggage got a big break when a federal judge sentenced her to probation instead of prison time.
In an opinion released Wednesday, Brooklyn federal court Judge Frederic Block said the “devastating” consequences Chevelle Nesbeth – who was just 20 when she was arrested — will face as a convicted felon were punishment enough.
Nesbeth was looking at more than two to three years in prison after she was busted at JFK Airport in January 2015 with 2 1/2 pounds of cocaine stuffed in the handles of her suitcase.
Block noted that her inability to obtain housing or a job as a felon could lead to “further disastrous” consequences, like losing a child or becoming homeless, he wrote in the 44-page filing.
He also said the Jamaican-born college student’s criminal record has dashed her dreams of becoming a school principal.
“…The collateral consequences Ms. Nesbeth will suffer, and is likely to suffer … has compelled me to conclude that she has been sufficiently punished, and that jail is not necessary,” Block wrote.
Nesbeth, who lives in New Haven with her mom, was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service and six months of home confinement.
Block said the home confinement was “to drive home the point that even though I have not put her in prison, I consider her crimes to be serious.”
Nesbeth was convicted after a jury didn’t buy her claim that she unwittingly transported the drugs for pals who gave her two suitcases prior to flying to JFK from Jamaica.
Her lawyers didn’t immediately return a message.
