Three St. Thomas men – Leayle Morton Benjamin Jr., Aben A. Marrero Jr. and Michael Samuels – were each sentenced to 121 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe said Tuesday.
The sentences were handed down by District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez.
According to Sharpe’s announcement, Benjamin, 50; Marrero, 34; and Samuels, 39, were convicted on Oct. 5 after a three-day jury trial.
Evidence at trial established that – from a time unknown but continuing to October 2011 – Benjamin, Marrero and Samuels conspired to smuggle cocaine through the Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas to Atlanta. Benjamin and Marrero were employees of the Virgin Islands Port Authority assigned to the maintenance division. The cocaine was passed under the partitions to a co-conspirator in the bathroom of the Cyril E. King Airport.
On Oct. 22, 2011, a co-conspirator was arrested in Atlanta after arriving on board a flight from St. Thomas in possession of seven kilos of cocaine in his carryon suitcase. The co-conspirator agreed to cooperate with the government and made consensually monitored telephone calls that resulted in the apprehension of another co-conspirator, Jace Edwards, who was found guilty in a separate trial and is awaiting sentencing.
The cooperator pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Georgia to importation of cocaine. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to cooperate with the government and testified in the trial of Benjamin, Marrero and Samuels.
In addition to the 121 months incarceration, each of the three defendants was placed on five years’ supervised release and ordered to forfeit $113,400.
Upon sentencing, each defendant was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to Sharpe, the case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virgin Islands Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nelson L. Jones prosecuted the case.
It is now ridiculously, painfully obvious Tapia and Hill were given preferential “sweetheart” deals. For what? Any excuse for an enhancement is always used (e.g., “you drove the boat”), but not with these two after years of drug smuggling and likely many other activities. They even got their full boat retirement packages, with Hill skating in a couple years of Club Fed and Tapia in about 5 with good behavior. While these lowly airport employees get over 10 years. Tapia and Hill know something and either it’s being hidden or exploited, one or the other. Otherwise this is pure preferential treatment. How about a little forfeiture for Tapia or Hill rather than a retirement reward? You may not be able to legally take his retirement, but you could sure put a dent in it after the fact. Something is obviously up here.
It is indeed insulting to the People of the Virgin Islands and law abiding citizens everywhere that the Dept. Of Justice would recommend such exceedingly lenient sentences for Tapia and Hill while throwing the book at others. Something needs to change with these “discretionary sentencing’s” with regard to those people that so horrendously misuse and abuse their positions of trust in law enforcement. They,
of all people, should be held accountable to higher standards and sentencing.
The DOJ and the Courts should be ashamed of themselves for perpetuating this farce. It is quite appalling
Holy slap on the wrists Batman!!!