CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Javier Enrique Lima was indicted on February 27, 2020 on multiple federal and local charges related to possessing and transporting a firearm with an obliterated serial number, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
Lima was also charged with departing a customs facility before being authorized to do so, Shappert said.
According to the indictment and other filed documents, on February 3, 2020, defendant presented himself at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Red Hook ferry terminal after returning from Tortola.
A CBP Officer working the x-ray machine noticed a firearm in the backpack Lima brought with him. Lima immediately fled the facility, leaving his backpack.
Law enforcement agents made multiple efforts to locate Lima, and were unable to do so. Lima eventually turned himself in to law enforcement on Monday March 9.
Following a detention hearing Tuesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller, Lima was released to the custody of his parents for home confinement pending trial on the charges.
Lima faces a maximum sentence of fifteen years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Shappert said that a criminal indictment is merely a formal charging document and is not in and of itself evidence of guilt.
“Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty,” she said.
The case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security.
It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Rainwater.