On Tuesday, May 31, 2022, charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of a firearm within a school zone were filed against 21-year-old Rionel Allembert of St. Croix, according to United States Attorney Delia L. Smith. If convicted, Allembert faces up to five years in prison.
According to court documents, on September 28, 2021, members of the
Virgin Islands Police Department located a Taurus 9mm handgun in a ditch at #21 Anna’s Hope, St. Croix. DNA testing later revealed the presence of Allembert’s DNA on the firearm. Allembert did not have a license to possess the firearm, which was located approximately 290 feet from the Church of God of Holiness Academy, a preschool.
Virgin Islands Police Department and members of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force are investigating, and Assistant United States Attorney Daniel H. Huston is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and community leaders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions. For more information on the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, please see https://www.justice.gov/psn.
