CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A woman from St. Kitts and Nevis is facing a possible 10-year prison sentence after attempting to use another woman’s identification documents to obtain a local driver’s license, documents filed in U.S. District Court indicate.
Kyla Herbert was arrested Thursday and charged with fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents, a federal crime that carries a possible decades-long prison sentence, according to court documents.
Herbert heard the charges against her in a preliminary hearing at U.S. District Court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller on Friday.
The St. Kitt’s woman’s arrest came after she applied for a driver’s license at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles near Subbase, St. Thomas on Thursday, investigators said in a sworn affidavit.
Concerned BMV employees contacted U.S. Homeland Security’s Enforcement and Removal Office, which responded to BMV and brought Herbert in for questioning.
Herbert, after waiving her right to remain silent, told investigators that she was a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis who was smuggled into St. Thomas in October 2018 from Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
Miller released Herbert on her own recognizance after the accused woman posted bond.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Brooks. Herbert is being defended by Federal Public Defender Omodare B. Jupiter.
