St. Croix, USVI – District Court Judge Raymond L. Finch, on March 2, 2017, sentenced Gamalier Rohlsen-Arizmendi, 24, of Puerto Rico, to 63 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. Judge Finch also sentenced Rohlsen-Arizmendi to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a special assessment of $100.
Rohlsen-Arizmendi had pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute on July 27, 2016. On November 12, 2015, he along with other co-conspirator arrived on St. Croix to retrieve a load of cocaine at sea. Law enforcement agents observed Rohlsen-Arizmendi leave St. Croix by boat on November 13, 2015. At about 1:30 a.m. the next day, law enforcement tracked the same boat returning to St. Croix to Knight’s Bay Beach. Upon arriving there, they located Rohlsen-Arizmendi with two of his co-conspirators in close proximity to four suitcases which contained 87 kilograms of cocaine. All three men were charged as part of a large drug conspiracy involving 15 defendants. Seven of them have entered guilty pleas. The others are scheduled for trial on April 25, 2017.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso G. Andrews, Jr.