John McCarthy
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas man who had 50 pounds of cocaine in his checked luggage at the Cyril E. King Airport got 2.75 years in prison from a federal judge today.
Shahime “Prettyboyswagg” Ludvig, Jr., 22, of St. Thomas, was given that term today after his conviction for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Molloy, sentenced Ludvig to 33 months incarceration, five years supervised release, and ordered him to forfeit $1,991 to the United States, and pay a $100 special assessment.
According to court documents, on September 24, 2018, Ludvig appeared at the St. Thomas airport with approximately 23 kilos of cocaine in his luggage.
He checked the luggage and proceeded to the departure lounge to board flight number 307 on Delta Air Lines to Atlanta, Georgia.
During a routine screening, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered the cocaine.
CBP located Ludvig at the departure lounge and detained him.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrived at the airport and placed Ludvig under arrest.
Ludvig ultimately pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle 50.70 pounds of cocaine.
The street value of the cocaine was at least $638,000, according to a CBP calculus.
This case was investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard Potter.
