Man Traveling from Georgia to St. Croix Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges for Marijuana in Luggage

ST. CROIX, USVI – U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert of the District of the Virgin Islands announced that a Georgia man pleaded guilty in federal court today to possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.

According to court documents, Ra’Kheel Velasquez, age 24, of Georgia traveled to St. Croix on a Delta flight originating from Atlanta, Georgia with checked luggage containing approximately 1.76 kilograms (approximately 4 pounds) of marijuana in four individually wrapped packages intended for distribution.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 10, 2022 and faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Customs and Border Protection, and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Ortiz is prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.