St. Croix’s Amead Williams Faces Five Years In Prison And $250K Fine After Guilty Plea In Federal Court Today

CHRISTIANSTED — A St. Croix man admitted in federal court today that he had a gun and he wasn’t supposed to have one.

Amead Williams, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to possession of a firearm while under indictment, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C. F. Shappert said.

According to court documents, on September 11, 2018, Virgin Islands police and other law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a residence in Frederiksted.

During the search, police uncovered a .223 Kel Tec pistol with two attached loaded magazines, each containing 30 live rounds, and a 9mm firearm loaded with 13 rounds.

A firearm forensic analysis revealed that both firearms were operable.

Amead Williams admitted to law enforcement officers that the firearms belonged to him.

At the time of the search, Williams was subject to criminal charges pending in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.

Williams faces up to five years of incarceration for the offense and a fine of up to $250,000.00.

A sentencing date has been scheduled for August 28, 2019.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD).

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

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.