Jonathan Eric Gardiner was among 11 people rescued after a turboprop went down off Florida’s coast.
ORLANDO, FL — A Bahamas-based man rescued from a life raft after a plane crashed off Florida’s east coast is now in federal custody, accused of taking part in a cocaine importation conspiracy, court records show.
Jonathan Eric Gardiner, 58, also known as “Player,” was one of 11 Bahamian adults pulled from the Atlantic Ocean on May 12 after a civilian aircraft went down about 80 miles east of Melbourne. Days later, federal prosecutors said Gardiner had been charged in the Southern District of New York with conspiracy to import a controlled substance. The charge involves 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, according to the complaint.
The rescue began after an emergency locator transmitter signal from a twin-engine turboprop aircraft alerted Coast Guard watchstanders at about 11 a.m. Tuesday. A 920th Rescue Wing HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter crew was already in the air on a training mission and was redirected to search for the aircraft. Airmen found the survivors in a life raft near the downed plane and hoisted all 11 people aboard before taking them to Melbourne Orlando International Airport, where emergency crews were waiting.
Col. Chadd Bloomstine, commander of the 920th Operations Group, said the mission showed the training and coordination of rescue crews. “Our crews were already airborne conducting training when the call came in, and they immediately transitioned from training to real-world rescue operations,” Bloomstine said. Officials said all survivors were reported in stable condition. The aircraft had reportedly departed Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas and was headed to Freeport when it experienced engine failure. Bahamian authorities are expected to investigate the cause of the crash.
The federal drug case was not described by authorities as the cause of the crash. Investigators said Gardiner was carrying three phones, about $295 in cash and a cross-body bag with about $30,000 in Bahamian currency when he was rescued. Federal agents said the way the cash was packed was consistent with narcotics proceeds. The complaint describes Gardiner as an international narcotics trafficker based in the Bahamas who sourced cocaine from Colombia and other places for eventual distribution in the United States.
According to the complaint, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been investigating drug trafficking groups operating in and around the Bahamas since at least 2022. Investigators said the Bahamas’ location between South America and Florida has made the island chain a key route for traffickers moving cocaine toward the United States. The complaint alleges traffickers used routes from Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the Bahamas. Federal investigators also alleged that some groups worked with members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and other officials to move shipments.
Gardiner had a prior federal record in the United States. Court records cited by investigators say he was convicted in the Southern District of Florida on narcotics and money laundering charges, sentenced to 220 months in prison and later deported to the Bahamas in 2014. Federal agents said the new investigation connected him to a Georgia-based trafficking organization, including an alleged shipment of about 9 kilograms of cocaine in February 2023. Investigators also described later conversations about larger shipments involving hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.
Authorities said the alleged conspiracy began in February 2023 and continued into June 2023, with additional discussions described in records from 2024. The complaint says Gardiner expanded his operation with help from a man he had met while serving time in federal prison in Florida. That person was identified in court documents as a confidential co-conspirator. Prosecutors said the case is tied to a wider investigation of narcotics trafficking from the Caribbean and Latin America into the United States.
Gardiner appeared Friday in federal court in Orlando before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathan W. Hill. The hearing was tied to a Rule 5 arrest, a procedure used when a person is arrested in one federal district on a case filed in another. The case was filed in the Southern District of New York, and prosecutors asked that Gardiner be arrested and held while the case proceeds. Records did not show a final resolution of the charge.
The plane crash added a striking turn to the case because the arrest came after a high-profile rescue. The aircraft went down far offshore, leaving survivors in a life raft until military and Coast Guard crews reached them. A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater C-27 Spartan aircrew and an HC-130J Combat King II crew from Patrick Space Force Base also assisted. Officials said the HC-130J crew helped locate the aircraft and raft before the helicopter crew lifted the survivors from the water.
The federal charge remains pending, and Gardiner is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Bahamian officials are expected to handle the crash investigation, while federal prosecutors continue the drug case. The next step will be court proceedings tied to Gardiner’s transfer or appearance in the district where the complaint was filed.
Author note: Last updated May 17, 2026.