Gerald Mercer, Cocaine Smuggling, Virgin Islands 2017

A high-ranking government official in the US Virgin Islands has been charged with cocaine smuggling, along with three others.

Gerald Mercer, 42, a Department of Planning and Natural Resources officer, Jamal Haynes, 39, Makimba Barry, 39, and Craig Richardson, 39, were indicted by a federal grand jury on May 18, 2017, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

The indictment, unsealed on May 18, 2017, alleges that Richardson, Barry, and Haynes conspired with Neal Chesterfield, a former bodyguard of Governor Kenneth Mapp, to possess with intent to distribute approximately 136 kilograms of cocaine beginning on or about December 15, 2014, through September 3, 2016.

Additionally, prior to that date, Mercer, Barry, and Chesterfield conspired to possess with intent to distribute 125 kilograms of cocaine beginning on or about January 1, 2011, through December 15, 2014.

Richardson made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller on Monday, and was detained pending his detention hearing. Mercer was placed on home detention and ordered to pay a $75,000 cash bond pending trial.

The case results from an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) joint investigation conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation's illegal drug supply.

If convicted, each of the men charged in the indictment faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years and not more than life, and a fine of up to $10 million.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Delia Smith.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-vi/pr/department-planning-and-natural-resources-officer-and-three-other-men-indicted-cocaine