Four employees of the V.I. Bureau of Corrections – Waheeda Ali, 32; Abdul Robinson, 38; Patrick Richards, 41; and Eustace Roper, 51 – were arrested Wednesday and charged with varying counts of providing prison contraband.
According to U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe, the four made their initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge George Cannon in district court Wednesday. All defendants were released on bail pending the filing of formal charges.
The complaints resulted from years of investigative work by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducting a probe into official corruption within the bureau.
The complaints charge all defendants with varying counts of providing contraband in prison, promoting dangerous prison contraband and conflict of interest.
If convicted of providing prison contraband, the defendants face a maximum of one year of incarceration.
If convicted of promoting dangerous prison contraband, they face a maximum sentence of five years’ incarceration.
If convicted of conflict of interest, they face a minimum sentence of one year of incarceration and a maximum sentence of five years, according to Sharpe.
Sharpe’s news release did not specify the capacity in which the four defendants worked for the Bureau of Corrections.