CHARLOTTE AMALIE — One of four St. Thomas men caught on surveillance video stuffing a bag with guns in Hospital Ground last year has been given two and a half years in prison, authorities said.
Akeem Dijhani Julien, 25, of Hospital Ground, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months imprisonment followed by 30 months of supervised release for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
Julien was one of four men caught on surveillance video stashing a bag filled with weapons in Hospital Ground on April 8, shortly after the murder of Deshaune Harrigan, according to court records.
Federal investigators have used ballistic technology to link one of the four firearms found in the bag to shell casings from Harrigan’s murder, court records indicate.
According to court documents, Julien was arrested after the April 8 shooting incident which occurred while Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) officers were patrolling the Hospital Ground neighborhood in St. Thomas due to recent shootings.
VIPD officers pursued a group of individuals, including Julien, after the group ran when officers approached. Surveillance video captured Julien and the others climbing over a railing and onto a patio with two black bags.
The surveillance video shows Julien in possession of one of the bags which he then handed to another individual. The surveillance video further shows the other individual leave the patio with two bags, heading in one direction, while Julien and others left, traveling in the opposite direction.
The bag Julien possessed contained an AK-47 firearm with an obliterated serial number. Julien’s DNA was recovered from the AK-47 firearm.
VIPD, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.