Virgin Islands Resident Sentenced for Possessing a Machine Gun

St. Croix, VI – Acting United States Attorney Adam F. Sleeper announced today that Shabukah Bannis, 29, of St. Croix, was sentenced on Friday, June 20, 2025, for unlawfully possessing a machine gun. U.S. District Court Judge Wilma A. Lewis sentenced Bannis to 30 months’ imprisonment.
According to court documents, on November 30, 2023, officers with the Virgin Islands Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Bannis. During the stop, officers detected the odor of marijuana. Bannis admitted to having marijuana in the vehicle, prompting a search. Inside the car, officers recovered marijuana and found a loaded machine gun with an obliterated serial number concealed under the driver’s seat.
In pronouncing sentence, Judge Lewis emphasized that the message must be “loud, clear, and unmistakable—the possession of these types of weapons of war cannot and will not be tolerated in this community.”
This case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cherrisse R. Woods.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.