CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Two of four would-be BVI cocaine smugglers who were undone when their cigarette boat stalled out northeast of St. Croix admitted to their guilt in a federal court on St. Thomas.
Sean John, 35, and Emmanuel Tolentino-Lebron, 21, each of Road Town, Tortola, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson III, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
According to court documents, on January 9, 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Air and Marine (AMO) agents detected a vessel with bales of suspected cocaine in plain view on the deck of the vessel. The vessel was traveling on the northeast side of St. Croix heading north
towards the British Virgin Islands.
Upon further investigation, agents encountered a 32-foot Manta low-profile vessel with twin 300 HP outboard engines located at approximately 19 nautical miles northeast of St. Croix in international waters in an area known by law enforcement for drug trafficking.
The vessel was dead in the water and displayed no indicia of nationality, flag nor registration, and was determined to be a vessel without nationality, thus subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Onboard the vessel, agents discovered four occupants later identified as Sean John, Emmanuel Tolentino-Lebron, Shannon John, and Augusto Rodriguez-Molina, along with 21 bales wrapped in plastic and encased in rope.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) laboratory analysis later confirmed that the bales
recovered from the vessel contained approximately 567 kilograms (1,250 pounds) of cocaine hydrochloride.
At sentencing, John and Tolentino-Lebron face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years
in prison. A federal judge will determine their sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine (AMO) and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)
investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers,
money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United
States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages
the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
