CHRISTIANSTED — A Puerto Rican woman who delivered nearly ten pounds of marijuana to a St. Croix bartender aboard a commercial airline was given probation by a federal judge, authorities said.
Nathalie Lopez, 32, of San Juan, was sentenced on one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on board an aircraft, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
U.S. District Court Judge Wilma A. Lewis gave Lopez two and a half years of federal probation and required 100 hours of community service while also imposing a fine of $2,000 and a special assessment of $100.
According to court documents, on February 17, 2017, Nathalie Lopez traveled on American Airlines flight #1293 from Miami, Florida, to St. Croix, via the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport.
Lopez checked one box on this flight containing five separate vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana, weighing about 4.5 kilograms.
Once Lopez arrived in St. Croix, her coconspirator, Gibbs Bully, retrieved the box containing the marijuana from the baggage carousel, and was immediately detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
Gibbs Bully previously pled guilty to the charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and on March 14, 2019, was sentenced to a prison term of 18 months, to be followed by a four-year period of supervised release and a fine of $4,000.
Bully worked as a bartender at the Club Comanche Hotel on Strand Street in Christiansted prior to his arrest on drug charges.
The Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.
The DEA Southeast Crime Laboratory in Miami analyzed the marijuana. Assistant United States Attorney Daniel H. Huston prosecuted the case.