Son of Retired LAFD Chief Pleads Guilty to Marijuana Smuggling Charges

The son of retired Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Millage Peaks pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from a scheme to smuggle marijuana on flights out of Los Angeles International Airport.

Peaks, who regularly graced LAFD events in Eagle Rock, including the high-profile Paramedic of the Year award ceremony at Fire Station 42 in 2010, shares his name with his son, Millage Peaks IV.

The 24-year-old faces up to five years in prison. He pleaded guilty in July, but formally entered the guilty plea in court Thursday, Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California told Eagle Rock Patch.

Peaks is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 14 in the Los Angeles federal court on 213 N. Spring St. downtown. In court papers, he acknowledged promising to pay $500 to former Transportation Security Administration agent Dianna Perez for each pot-filled suitcase that cleared security checkpoints at LAX.

Perez pleaded guilty to conspiracy earlier this week, admitting she helped Peaks and other co-defendants smuggle drugs on nine occasions between November 2010 and October 2011.

Admitted marijuana couriers Andrew “Drew” Welter, 25, of Fontana, and Charles “Smoke'' Hicks, 24, of Culver City, also pleaded guilty in the case.

The final defendant, former TSA agent Randy Littlefield, 29, of Paramount, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea to conspiracy charges next week, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Perez, 28, of Inglewood, faces up to five years behind bars. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 7.

The marijuana was being flown from Los Angeles to Boston, according to court papers.