CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A former V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs enforcement officer got 3.4 years in prison for blackmailing an illegal migrant for sex two years ago, authorities said. Robert Defreitas, 32, formerly of DLCA, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for Travel Act bribery and solicitation

SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico’s firefighting department said Wednesday that its database was hacked by unknown people demanding $600,000 in an act of alleged extortion. The department’s director, Alberto Cruz, said in a statement the situation has not affected its ability to respond to emergencies. Police said the department received

MIAMI — Three disturbances being watched in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea may not become named storms, but could bring massive rainfall to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The National Hurricane Center is monitoring the first disturbance, a weak area of low pressure

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — University of the Virgin Islands senior, Raven Phillips was crowned the 40th Miss UVI at the Miss UVI Ambassadorial Presentation and Coronation on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at John Brewers Bay, on St. Thomas. The coronation dubbed “Our HBCU in Paradise” is a replacement for the annually held Miss

CHRISTIANSTED — A St. Croix man who thought he was meeting a teenage girl to have sex last summer, pleaded guilty in federal court today to trying to have illegal sexual activity. Rashead Gerard, 23, of St. Croix, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge George Cannon, Jr., to attempted coercion

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A convicted felon who admitted to authorities he had a loaded semi-automatic gun and ammunition in his vehicle after a domestic dispute on St. Croix pleaded guilty to illegal gun-related charges in federal court. Deshawn Gonsalves, 26, of St. Croix, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to

BRIDGETOWN — More women and infants are dying at childbirth in Latin American and the Caribbean since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic this year, The Lancet reports. To slow an increase in premature deaths, more must be done to improve the diets of pregnant women as the region copes

SAN JUAN — One size doesn’t fit all, and that cliché was at the heart of a recent decision to revamp fishing guidelines in the American Caribbean. Island-based fishery management plans will now guide managers in designing policies that are specific to the biodiversity, culture, and other characteristics of different locations

SAN JUAN — The Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser repatriated 45 of 48 migrants to the Dominican Republic Sunday afternoon, following the interdiction of three illegal voyages in the Mona Passage near Puerto Rico. Two of the interdicted migrants remain in Puerto Rico to face possible federal prosecution on charges

MIAMI — A tropical disturbance just east of the Caribbean is battling strong upper-level winds as it crawls towards the islands. Unless something very unexpected happens, the hostile upper environment is likely to keep it from developing an organized, tight circulation, but it can’t be completely ruled out. Sometimes, an