GUILTY PLEA: Winston Venner

CHRISTIANSTED – A 34-year-old St. Croix man pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court to being a felon with a gun, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Winston Curtis Venner admitted to being a felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court in Estate Golden Rock, U.S. Attorney Ronald Sharpe said.

According to the plea agreement filed with the court, Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) officers stopped Venner’s vehicle on Rattan Road on July 12, 2015.

Venner was the sole occupant of the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, next to Venner on the floor of the front passenger seat, police found a bag containing a Cobray model M 12, .380 caliber handgun and a magazine containing 17 bullets.

Venner was previously convicted of third-degree assault third in 2005 in the V.I. Superior Court.

Venner faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

A sentencing date has been set for December 7, 2016.

The case was investigated by the VIPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews, Jr.

M 12 machine .380 caliber pistol, magazine