On Tuesday a St. Thomas man pleaded guilty to attempting to send cocaine through the mail, and in an unrelated case a St. Croix man was charged with a similar offense.
According to news releases from U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert, Kemo Riley pleaded guilty in District Court on St. Thomas to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, while Damian Anthony Lang was charged in District Court on St. Croix, with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
Kemo Riley
Kemo Riley, of St. Thomas, pled guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, Shappert announced. The Honorable Curtis Gomez, chief judge, District Court of the Virgin Islands, accepted the guilty plea.
In his plea agreement, Riley admitted to mailing a package to an individual in New York containing more than 250 grams of cocaine concealed in candy bar wrappers on May 28. Riley faces up to 20 years imprisonment, a three-year term of supervised release and a fine of as much as $1 million.
Gomez scheduled Riley’s sentencing for 9 a.m. on June 4.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Blecher and Nathan Brooks.
Damian Anthony Lang
Damian Anthony Lang was arrested Tuesday in federal District Court on St Croix, after law enforcement officials intercepted two packages, he mailed to South Carolina that contained more than a pound of cocaine.
Shappert said Lang was arrested in federal court on St. Croix and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
According to court documents, Lang mailed two parcels from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Spartanburg, South Carolina on Dec. 7. The parcels were intercepted and contained approximately 462 grams of a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.
Lang was arraigned on Feb. 4 in federal court on St. Croix and detention, preliminary and removal hearings were scheduled for Wednesday.
According to court documents, Lang is on release pending trial in an unrelated federal case, for the charge of being a felon in possession of ammunition.
The South Carolina case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, United States Postal Inspection Service and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa P. Ortiz and Alphonso Andrews in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
