By Courtney Dentch
Jamaica residents Carlos Deleon, 31, Juan Sanchez, 54, and Joseph Talley, 34, were among a total of five people accused of stealing items from Sky Chef, a duty-free retail company, that were intended for sale to first-class passengers aboard international flights, Brown said. The five were all employed by Sky Chef as cargo handlers, the DA said.”The defendants are alleged to have pilfered over the past few months over $20,000 worth of mini bottles of liquor, jewelry, watches and perfumes, which were taken from a storage warehouse at JFK International Airport for subsequent sale in the underground economy,” Brown said in a statement. “Employee pilferage deprives our city and state governments of much-needed tax revenues.”According to criminal complaints filed with the DA's office, the defendants allegedly stole or were found with stolen property, including miniature bottles of Dewars scotch, Courvoisier cognac and Bacardi rum; jewelry; watches; perfume and pens on June 18 and Aug. 2, Brown said. The stockpile was valued at more than $20,000, the district attorney said.The Jamaica men, along with two accomplices from Long Island, allegedly removed the items from the Sky Chef storage facility in plastic bags and sealed boxes and loaded them into their personal cars, Brown said. The goods were slated for sale at neighborhood delis and other stores, he said.The Port Authority inspector general caught wind of the scheme a few months ago and started an investigation that led to the arrests, said Inspector General Robert Van Etten.”This case is a result of many hours of investigations by the detectives and investigators from the Port Authority Office of the Inspector General and the Port Authority Police Department,” he said. “The defendants blatantly broke the law, systematically stealing from retailers.”The five were arrested Aug. 2 and Aug. 3 by Port Authority detectives and were variously charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and petit larceny, Brown said. Deleon and Talley were arraigned Aug. 4, while Sanchez and the two other defendants – Mahadeo Sookhiram and Lorenza Jacobson, both of Nassau County – were awaiting arraignment last Thursday, the district attorney said.Deleon, Sanchez and Talley could face up to seven years in prison if convicted, Brown said. Sookhiram could be sentenced to four years in jail and Jacobson to one year in jail if found guilty, he said.Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
