CHRISTIANSTED — A St. Croix man faces a maximum of 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to his role in a 2017 carjacking of a St. Croix couple.
Luis Davis, 34, of St. Croix, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson, III, to using a firearm during a violent crime, carjacking, and felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
The sentencing in this matter is scheduled for December 2, 2022. Davis faces, a maximum of 15 years of incarceration on the carjacking; a maximum of 10 years on the felon in possession; and a mandatory minimum of seven years on the firearm possession during a violent crime.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
According to court documents, on September 10, 2017, Davis, along with two co-defendants, broke into a home in Estate Rust Op Twist while brandishing a firearm.
Davis and is co-defendants physically assaulted an occupant of the home by punching him in the head and threatened to kill another occupant while demanding money.
Davis and his co-defendants then forced the occupants, at gunpoint, into the rear passenger seat of their Toyota Tacoma truck and drove to the shoreline location where the male occupant had left his wallet. After retrieving the wallet, Davis and his codefendants fled in the Toyota Tacoma truck and a Jeep Wrangler.
In addition to the vehicles, Davis and his co-defendants stole $200.00 cash, two iPhones valued at $600 each and an iPad valued at $200.00.
In 2011, Davis was convicted of Felony Assault in the First Degree in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.
This case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel H. Huston.
The investigation is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and community leaders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.
For more information on the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, please see: https://www.justice.gov/psn