Man Pleads Guilty to Using Firearm During Carjacking at St. Croix Educational Complex

St. Croix, USVI –James Cruz, 20, pleaded guilty today in District Court on St. Croix to Using a Firearm during a Crime of Violence, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. As part of the plea, Cruz admitted that on February 21, 2015 at the St. Croix Educational Complex, he and an accomplice ordered two people onto the ground at gun point, and then drove off with their pick-up truck. Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) officers pursued Cruz and his accomplice, who abandoned the truck and fled on food in the Longpoint area. The officers quickly captured them.

The accomplice is a juvenile and has been adjudicated through the Office of the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands.

A sentencing hearing for Cruz is set for November 24, 2015. Cruz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison. He is detained pending sentencing.

This case was investigated by the VIPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian H. Stringer.