CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A Puerto Rican boat captain got nine years in prison for smuggling about 40 pounds of cocaine into St. Thomas.
Sammy Monell-Osorio, 31, of San Juan, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge
Robert A. Molloy to 108 months of imprisonment on his conviction of possession with intent
to distribute a controlled substance while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
Judge Molloy also sentenced Monell-Osorio to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a special assessment of $100.00.
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of February 28, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection marine interdiction officers detected a vessel traveling without navigational lights on the west side of St. Thomas heading towards Puerto Rico.
Osorio, the captain of the vessel, attempted to evade the officers when they ordered him to
stop. The occupants of Osorio’s vessel then threw a black bag overboard before the vessel
was disabled for failure to heave to the officer’s commands. The black bag containing 18
kilograms of cocaine was later retrieved from the ocean.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Marine Interdiction Unit and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Everard Potter and Natasha Baker prosecuted the case.