Man Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Prison Contraband

St. Croix, USVI – Shevron Percival, 25, pleaded guilty today in District Court on St. Croix to one count of Possession of Prison Contraband, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.

As part of his plea, Percival admitted that on October 26, 2012, while he was an inmate at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility, Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections (BOC) officers discovered a cellular telephone tied up in the waist string of the basketball shorts he was wearing. Cellular telephones are prohibited contraband in correctional facilities because they are known to be used by prisoners to intimidate witnesses, orchestrate narcotics transactions, and to facilitate other criminal activity, including murders.

Possession of prison contraband carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for September 9, 2015.

The case was investigated by BOC and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rami S. Badawy.