CHARLOTTE AMALIE – A federal judge gave a man from the Dominican Republic less than four years in prison today for sending 4.4 pounds of cocaine through the U.S. mail.
Braulio Martinez, 33, of Santo Domingo, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
U.S. District Court Judge Curtis Gomez sentenced Martinez to 46 months (3.83 years) followed by four years supervised release, according to Shappert.
Judge Gomez also ordered that Martinez pay a $100 special assessment.
According to court documents, on or about July 25th, 2017, Martinez is seen on video mailing a package from the island of St. John to the U.S. mainland.
The package was inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and found to contain electronic equipment with two black plastic-like wrapped packages secreted inside the equipment.
The packages were brick-like in shape and each contained a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.
The packages were sent to the DEA laboratory for testing and confirmed to be approximately two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of cocaine.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the United States Postal Inspection Services (USPIS).
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigrid Tejo-Sprotte.