Hawaii tourists are charged with bribery and flown back to the mainland ‘after trying to offer airport screener $3,000 to let them skip COVID quarantine’
- Johntrell White, 29, and Nadia Bailey, 28, were arrested at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and charged with bribery
- White, traveling from Louisiana, allegedly offered an airport screener $2,000 to let him pass through without having to quarantine for 10 days
- Bailey then allegedly offered to throw in another $1,000 to let them through without quaranting because they didn’t have negative COVID tests
- White and Bailey were booked on charges, then released and flown back to mainland
Two tourists from Louisiana were arrested in Hawaii on bribery charges after allegedly offering an airport screener $3,000 to let them bypass the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Two visitors were arrested last Friday at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, accused of trying to bribe airport screeners to allow them to bypass the State’s mandatory Safe Travels rules.
According to reports from the state Department of Public Safety and the Attorney General’s Office, Johntrell White, 29, and Nadia Bailey, 28, arrived last Friday at the Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu without negative coronavirus test results, which are required for everyone entering Hawaii.
Johntrell White, 29, and Nadia Bailey, 28, were arrested at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, for allegedly trying to bribe a screener to let them bypass the state’s COVID restrictions
White allegedly told an airport screener he would give her $2,000 to pass through without having to quarantine for 10 days, while Bailey allegedly told the same employee she would ‘throw in an additional $1,000 to let them both through without quarantining.’
The screener alerted deputy sheriffs, who arrested the pair for bribery.
White and Bailey were booked on the charges and released before being flown back to the mainland.
White allegedly offered the airport worker $2,000 to let him pass through without having to quarantine for 10 days, and Bailey allegedly offered to throw in another $1,000
In Hawaii, the offense of bribery carries up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to triple the bribe amount.
As part of Hawaii’s ‘Safe Travel’ program, all visitors must present a negative coronavirus test done by a state-approved lab within 72 hours of travel.
Those who arrive with no test or a positive test are required to quarantine for 10 days at their own expense.