John McCarthy
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — After a two-day trial, a federal jury found a St. Thomas man guilty of illegal gun charges.
Rehelio Trant, 39, of Estate Contant, is guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C. F. Shappert said.
Trant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to Shappert.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 16, 2018.
According to the evidence presented at trial, on October 16, 2017, the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) received a report from an individual that Trant brandished a firearm after a verbal confrontation with the individual adjacent to a local business.
Trant had a prior conviction for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and firearms are not manufactured in the Virgin Islands.
In 2008, Trant was charged with pointing a gun at a woman near an Estate Contant car wash.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Virgin Islands Police Department.
It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sigrid Tejo-Sprotte.
