THREE PUERTO RICAN MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO COCAINE CONSPIRACY

St. Thomas, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Pedro Ramos Ramirez, 28, Gerald Cruz, 26, and Johnny Arias Rodriquez, 28, all of Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Ruth Miller and Chief District Judge Robert Molloy to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

According to court documents, on December 29, 2022, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations interdicted a go-fast vessel with the defendants onboard. The vessel was operating without navigational lights north of Stumpy Bay, St. Thomas. The officers also observed a flashing light onboard the vessel and a simultaneous flashing light on the shoreline of Stumpy Bay. While pursuing the vessel, Ramos Rivera, the caption of the vessel, took sharp, erratic turns to evade the officers while Cruz and Arias Rodriquez tossed bales of cocaine from the vessel into the oceans. The vessel was disabled and the bales which totaled 75 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from the ocean. For their convictions, the defendants face a possible mandatory sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10,000,000.00. A district judge will determine the appropriate sentence after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other sentencing factors.

This case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard E. Potter.