Mugshot of Feliciano Comandante Olivieri. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — A man wanted in a 2023 investigation into gun trafficking was arrested in Orlando and extradited to the territory to face related charges.
In April 2023, Jakeem Jamal Bell was arrested after reportedly picking up a bag from the Cyril E. King Airport a month prior. The bag was alleged to have contained two automatic pistols and 60 rounds of ammunition. During the course of their investigation, authorities discovered that the Estate Tutu resident had been working with another man to bring the weapons into the territory. Police say they found text messages on Bell’s phone instructing him whose name would be on the bag that he would be picking up, and the day and time he was to collect the item.
The number which sent those messages was ultimately traced to Feliciano Comandante Olivieri, whose place of residence was listed in court records as Orlando, Florida. In April 2023, the V.I. Superior Court issued an arrest warrant for Olivieri. It took almost a year before Orlando police tracked him down, and he was arrested on February 22, 2024.
Olivieri waived his rights to an extradition hearing, and was transferred from the Orange County Jail to the Alexander Farrelly Justice Complex, arriving in the territory on March 29. He was then formally charged with importing firearms without a license, aiding and abetting in the importation of firearms without a license, and conspiring to import firearms without a license.
On Monday, Oliveri appeared before Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull, who issued a pre-trial release order, the details of which have not yet been made public. One condition of Olivieri’s release from detention ahead of trial, however, is that he submit to the third-party custody of a close relative who lives in Cruz Bay, St. John.
Oliveri’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 19.
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