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Jonathan Gardiner (Orange County Sheriff's Office) A man accused of trafficking drugs into Georgia after surviving a plane crash now faces federal charges, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. Jonathan Eric Gardiner, a 58-year-old Bahamian national, has been indicted on federal drug importation and conspiracy charges following his arrest and rescue from a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. In May, Gardiner and 10 others were traveling on a private plane near the coast of Florida when the plane crashed. The indictment follows a multi-year investigation into a drug trafficking organization that allegedly operated between December 2022 and May 2026. A grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned the indictment, charging Gardiner with conspiracy to import a controlled substance and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute.
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More than 20 people associated with the trafficking network have been previously charged, and 13 of those individuals have pleaded guilty.
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