St. Thomas Man Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Possession of Firearm with an Obliterated Serial Number

St. Thomas, USVI – District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez today sentenced D’Mari Heyliger, 23, to 15 months in prison for his federal conviction of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and 15 months in prison for possession of an unlicensed firearm under local law, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. Judge Gomez also sentenced Heyliger to serve three years of supervised release, perform 300 hours of community service, pay a fine of $5,000 and pay a $100 special assessment.

On August 31, 2015, Heyliger pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and possession of an unlicensed firearm. According to the plea agreement filed with the court, on December 20, 2013, a federal search warrant was executed on the defendant’s residence in St. Thomas. During the execution of the search warrant, two firearms with obliterated serial numbers were found in the defendant’s bedroom. Since the firearms had obliterated serial numbers, the firearms cannot be lawfully registered and therefore Heyliger did not have the authority to possess those
firearms in the Virgin Islands.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sigrid M. Tejo-Sprotte.