St. Thomas Man Sentenced To 100 Months In Prison For Possession Of Cocaine With The Intent To Distribute

St. Thomas, USVI - United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced that Marvin Griffin, 50, of St Thomas, Virgin Islands was sentenced yesterday in District Court to 100 months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms of cocaine. After serving his prison sentence, Griffin will be on Federal supervised release for four years. Griffin was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service to complete service of his sentence.

According to court records, on September 29, 2013, the defendant Griffin arrived at the Cyril E. King Airport and attempted to board an American Airlines flight to New York. Griffin had a black backpack, plastic bag and a box in his possession as he entered the primary inspection area of the airport. When the Officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) questioned Griffin about the contents of the box, he stated that the box contained various food items. As a result of his answers, he was referred to the Agricultural Specialist. When the Agricultural Specialist opened the black backpack, she immediately noticed the odor of marijuana. As subsequent search of the box in Griffin’s possession revealed it to contain several cans. When these cans were opened, they were found to contain five kilograms of cocaine. Griffin was then placed under arrest. He pleaded guilty on February 20, 2014 and has been incarcerated since that date. The case was investigated by CBP and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ishmael A. Meyers, Jr.