Crime

Fifth Defendant Convicted By St. Croix Federal Jury Sentenced To 135 Months For Conspiracy And Attempted Possession Of Cocaine

ST. CROIX -- Anibal Vega-Arizmendi, age 29, of Puerto Rico, was sentenced today to 135 months in prison for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, by District Court Judge Wilma A. Lewis, announced United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert. Judge Lewis also sentenced Vega-Arizmendi to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a fine of $2,000, and a special assessment of $300. On June 26, 2018, a federal jury convicted Vega-Arizmendi along with five co- defendants on cocaine-related charges. Evidence at trial revealed that the organization planned the mid-sea retrieval of over 300 kilograms of cocaine during the period of the conspiracy, January 2014 through March 2016. Approximately 223 kilograms of cocaine were actually distributed by the drug organization. Law enforcement efforts to interdict some of the the drug shipments were successful, beginning in 2015. In October 2014, Vega-Arizm...