Man who was caught in Logan cash-smuggling sting now faces trial on gun-smuggling charges

Two years before Eric Vick, a JetBlue worker at Logan Airport, was snared in what turned out to be a cash-smuggling sting operation, he was busy smuggling guns from Georgia into Boston, where at least one was used in a Dorchester gang shooting, federal prosecutors charge.

Vick is scheduled for trial on March 13 in US District Court on charges he bought seven guns at a Georgia pawnshop intending to bring them up to Boston for sale and that he did bring at least two up - one of which was used in an October, 2011 gang hit and one of which was found with a gang-affiliated pot dealer in Roxbury. He faces more than four years in federal prison if convicted.

The whereabouts of the other guns remain unknown, which was one of the reasons a judge today ruled that Vick, who went from finishing his 18-month sentence on the money-smuggling conviction in October, 2016, to federal custody on the gun charges, has to remain behind bars until after his trial is finished. In a ruling today, Judge Allison Burroughs said:

Vick's personal history, the nature and circumstances of the charged offense, which involves the transportation of many firearms, and the weight of the evidence establishes, by clear and convincing evidence, that releasing Vick from detention would jeopardize the safety of the public, and that there is no condition or combination of conditions that would reasonably assure the safety of the community.

Burroughs also ruled against Vick's request to be released on bail because the length of his potential sentence, coming on top of the 18 months he finished serving last year, make him s a high flight risk.

Innocent, etc.