Nov. 28, 2007 — Surash Rampersad and Rohan Providence face a minimum of five years and a maximum of 120 years after being convicted of marijuana distribution charges in U.S. District Court for the second time in less than a year.
After a three-day jury trial, Rampersad, 35 and Providence, 40, were found guilty Nov. 21 of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, marijuana manufacturing and maintaining a drug-involved premises. Joycelyn Hewlett of the U.S. Attorney's Office said she believes the operation was in Estate Mannings Bay, near the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix.
The jury found that between July 10 and July 23, Rampersad and Providence engaged in the manufacture of more than 100 marijuana plants for distribution on St. Croix. Both defendants face a minimum mandatory sentence of five years. The maximum statutory penalty for each of the three counts for which the defendants were convicted is 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $2 million.
Rampersad and Providence pleaded guilty June 11 to very similar charges stemming from a separate growing operation.
The pair was arrested April 6, 2005, after agents of the V.I. High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force discovered more than 800 marijuana plants at No. 3 Becks in Estate Grove. Of three structures found on the property, one contained two marijuana cultivation rooms equipped with high-powered farm lights specifically designed for indoor cultivation. Another structure contained marijuana packaged for distribution, as well as numerous dry marijuana plants hanging from light fixtures and clothes lines strung throughout the building.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 13 of next year.
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