CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas man who smuggled 14 pounds of marijuana into St. Croix was given just over a half year in prison, authorities said.
Jahvar Looby, 31, of Hospital Ground, appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Wilma A Lewis and was sentenced Wednesday on the charge of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
Judge Lewis gave Looby a sentence of seven months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, a fine of $1,500 and a $100 special assessment.
According to court documents, on February 11, 2021, Looby and three other co-conspirators flew into the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix on American Airlines flight number 2003 from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Upon their arrival, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers selected several pieces of luggage for physical inspection. The CBP officers observed anomalies while the luggage was examined by an X-ray machine.
A subsequent search revealed several clear, vacuum sealed bundles containing a green, leafy substance, which later field-tested positive for marijuana.
In total, approximately 6.33 kilograms (13.95 pounds) of suspected marijuana was seized from Looby and his coconspirators.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection )CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Huston prosecuted 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.