Four separate incidences of drug trafficking, extortion and fraud have added an extra 21 charges onto an already loaded indictment against V.I. Police Officers Enid Edwards and Francis Brooks.
V.I. Port Authority Officer Bill John-Baptiste is also charged in the document, but is not included in the new counts, which pertain only to Edwards and Brooks, and were added on as part of a superceding indictment handed down earlier this month.
Edwards, Brooks and John-Baptiste renewed their pleas of not guilty to the now-54-count indictment this week, while District Court Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller set their trial date for Oct. 25.
The original 33-count document, filed in June, ran the gamut from extortion to kidnapping and included incidences of assault, battery and illegal narcotics distribution.
The document says that Edwards and Brooks allegedly "abused their positions of trust" as VIPD officers by engaging in illegal "activities for the purpose of enriching themselves," while John-Baptiste — mentioned in only a few counts — is said to have physically assaulted and detained a female taxi driver, who allegedly had to pay Edwards and Brooks an undisclosed amount of money in exchange for her release.
The new charges, which are based on four separate incidents, run along the same lines.
Brooks alone is charged in counts 34 through 38, with court documents saying that he allegedly confiscated an illegal firearm from someone, then forced that person to pay him $2,000 in exchange for not filing a report. The incident has spawned charges of racketeering extortion, third-degree robbery, extortion, solicitation and receipt of a bribe and conflict of interest.
Both Brooks and Edwards are charged in counts 39 through 52, which break down into two separate incidents, ranging from around March 2008 to June 2009. Counts 39 to 47 cover the first incident, in which Brooks and Edwards allegedly forced someone to buy $3,500 — or 4.5 ounces — worth of crack cocaine in exchange for not filing an illegal firearms possession report against them.
Associated charges include: racketeering-related offenses, robbery, solicitation and receipt of a bribe, conflict of interest and drug-trafficking conspiracy for possession with the intent to distribute "50 and more" grams of cocaine.
Drug trafficking conspiracy is also part of the charges that cover counts 48 to 52, in which Brooks and Edwards are said, according to court documents, to have detained a group of individuals on the street, then released them after allegedly taking their money and drugs.
Edwards alone is mentioned in counts 53 and 54, which charge her with a financial crime called "structuring." The indictment alleges that Brooks made two $9,000 deposits at FirstBank in May 2008, then in July 2009, wrote checks totaling $9,900 and $9,500 made out to herself or cash.
The indictment stems from a continued federal probe into public corruption in the territory, carried out by a task force comprised of FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents, along with VIPD investigators, among others.
If convicted on the federal charges, the officers are looking at a maximum 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, along with sentences of a year to life in prison for violations of V.I. law, according to the guidelines.
Since their arrests in June, the officers have been placed on administrative leave without pay pending trial.
