Troy Lance Patterson age 52, of St. Croix was sentenced Tuesday in federal court by Judge Wilma Lewis to a term of sixty months of incarceration for carrying of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, followed by four months of incarceration on a charge of illegal use of a utility, charge, to be served consecutively, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced Wednesday.
Patterson had pled guilty to the charges on Oct. 20.
According to court documents, aerial surveillance of Patterson’s Anna’s Hope residence in Christiansted revealed that the residence might be a marijuana cultivation site. On Sept.18, 2019, federal agents executed a federal search warrant at the residence and located Patterson in possession of an unlicensed, loaded, and operable .38 special revolver, which the agents confiscated.
During the subsequent search of Patterson’s residence, agents located more than 80 rounds of ammunition, multiple scales, plastic baggies, approximately 168 gross grams of cocaine hydrochloride, approximately 117 grams of marijuana, and $12,473 in U.S. currency.
Federal agents also located a multi-room indoor marijuana grow operation containing marijuana plants for which electricity was supplied by way of an unauthorized Water and Power Authority utility connection, violations of federal and Virgin Islands law.
Patterson was also sentenced to a term of four years supervised release, was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,969 to the V.I. Water and Power Authority, was fined $1,000, and was ordered to pay a special assessment fee of $100. The confiscated $12,473 in U.S. currency, firearm and ammunition were forfeited.
The case was being investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz.
