Tyrone Reid, 22, convicted in February as the ringleader of a firearms conspiracy involving more than 30 firearms, six of which were seized from crime scenes in the territory, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Virgin Islands.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who presided over the trial, handed Reid a 168-month sentence – 60 months for a conspiracy conviction involving numerous codefendants who lied to federal firearms dealers in the purchase of firearms, as well as 60 and 48 months on each of the two convictions of making false statements to a federal firearms licensee, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas informed the U.S. attorney’s office in the territory.
All counts are to run consecutive to each other for a total sentence of 14 years in federal prison. At the hearing, Hittner found Reid to be connected to known drug traffickers in the Virgin Islands and the most culpable in the criminal conspiracy. Hittner also ordered Reid, not a U.S. citizen, be immediately deported following completion of his prison sentence.
Without cooperation among federal agencies and with the local V.I. Police Department, the prosecution and conviction "would not have occurred," said Ronald Sharpe, U.S. attorney for the Virgin Islands, in a statement.
“The sentencing of Reid will send a message to all in the Virgin Islands and beyond that illegal firearms trafficking will not be tolerated," Sharpe said.
Prosecutors persuaded the jury that evidence demonstrated Reid would induce others to claim that they were the actual buyers of the firearms, even though Reid supplied the money and immediately took possession from the buyers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Testimony at the trial indicated none of the purported buyers kept any of the more than 30 firearms they purchased, many of which were later found at crime scenes, both in the continental United States and in the Virgin Islands.
Of the seven firearms seized in the Virgin Islands, six were seized from crime scenes, including a homicide. Two firearms also were found at New Jersey crime scenes, including an aggravated armed robbery.
Western Union receipts sent from the Virgin Islands to the continental United States reflected that Reid received more than $60,000 in payments. Three of the firearms were recovered by agents in a search at the home of one of Reid’s associates, who also was linked to money sent from the Virgin Islands to Reid in Houston.
According to Magidson, Reid’s grandmother traveled to Houston for the trial and testified that Reid sent guns to her in the Virgin Islands. Reid then took the stand on his own behalf and called his grandmother a liar.
Reid’s co-conspirators in Houston and another in the Virgin Islands were also convicted and sentenced in relation to the same smuggling conspiracy.
