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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsLocal newsDrug Trafficking Conspirators Sentenced in Two Separate Cases

Drug Trafficking Conspirators Sentenced in Two Separate Cases

Two convicted drug traffickers recently learned how much time they’d spent in prison. One got 16 years on a first conviction. The other had her current eight-year term increased by 50 percent, with the additional four years tacked on to make it a 12-year sentence.

Federal prosecutors said both defendants headed up drug rings responsible for transporting large amounts of cocaine.

– Defendant Gerald Mercer was sentenced to 191 months in prison. Mercer, an enforcement officer with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, was indicted on drug conspiracy charges along with three other defendants in May 2017. All pleaded guilty except for Mercer, who was convicted at trial June 1.

From 2011 through 2016 the conspiracy moved drugs from St. Thomas through airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale using different couriers. The most notable among the three co-conspirators was Government House security officer Neal Chesterfield.

– On the same day, in District Court on St. Thomas defendant Nilda Morton had four more years tacked onto an eight year sentence already being served. The extra time came from a second conviction on a single charge of contempt of court.

When the hearing began in District Court on Thursday, Morton faced the prospect of life in prison. The reasons the court agreed to a shorter term on the second go ‘round emerged at the sentencing.
Morton, 33, refused to testify at the August 2017 hearing against another convicted drug trafficker, defying a cooperation deal made with the government. That deal was part of a plea agreement made in January 2017, when the defendant admitted to leading a multi-state drug trafficking ring.

District Court Judge Curtis Gomez presided over both hearings late last week.

Although Mercer acted in concert with co-defendants Craig Richardson, Jamal Haynes and Makimba Berry, the 191 month sentence stemmed from his ties to Chesterfield. The June verdict cited 15 trips from St. Thomas to Florida Mercer arranged and Chestfield carried out over a two year period between 2012 and 2014.

Prosecutors said Mercer targeted his childhood friend to join the conspiracy after he left his job as a security officer at the Port Authority and joined the team at Government House. The change in status came along with a high level security clearance that would let Chesterfield travel through airport screening without having his carry-on luggage inspected.

That all came to an end on Sept. 3, 2016, when Customs officials stopped him and confiscated several kilograms of cocaine.

Defense attorney Clive Rivers argued for a lesser sentence, citing Mercer’s clean criminal record. But Gomez noted the defendant was found guilty of smuggling a total of 75 kilograms over a two year period.
The judge also cited the particulars of the case.

“This case involved a Virgin Islands police officer who was at the time a member of the security detail for the governor. The purpose of that recruitment was to obtain use of the security clearance Mr. Chesterfield had in order to move contraband through the airport,” Gomez said.

Special circumstances were also tied to Morton’s sentencing. Failure to testify in violation of a plea deal triggered the contempt of court indictment. At the sentencing hearing prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office disclosed Morton’s personal involvement led to the call to revoke Fagan’s parole.

Morton was ordered to testify about a phone call captured on surveillance by investigators.
In that call, Morton was heard asking Fagan to help her collect a $100,000 debt from a prior drug transaction.

At the time Fagan was serving supervised release at the end of a prison sentence in one of the largest drug cases ever tried in the V.I., called Operation Red Ball.

But when asked to testify as to whether she was the party on the other end of the phone call at the revocation hearing, Morton invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Gomez, the judge at the revocation hearing, told the witness it was not appropriate for her to plead the Fifth.

Morton’s lawyer at sentencing, Jeffrey Weiss, argued that Juan Matos de Juan – Morton’s lawyer at the time – was not present. And, Weiss added, the lawyer chosen by Gomez to counsel Morton at the August hearing did not have enough information to properly serve her.
“There is something that isn’t right about this, your honor,” Weiss said.

But Gomez said Morton knew the terms of her plea deal and ultimately, it was her resposibilty.
It was up to the defendant to meet the terms of her agreement, and after being warned several times about not cooperating, Morton was responsible.

“The court made it abundantly clear that no defense attorney can trump an order of the court,” the judge said.

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