Two men pleaded guilty Friday in District Court on St. Croix to charges of possessing prison contraband in two separate cases.
According to U.S. Attorney Ronald Sharpe, Rodney Stanley, 30, and Delroy Woods, 24, each pleaded guilty to one count.
As part of his plea, Stanley admitted that on Nov. 15, 2012, officers of the V.I. Bureau of Corrections found a cellular telephone hidden in a mattress inside a cell solely occupied by Stanley at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility on St. Croix.
Stanley was an inmate at the facility at the time. Cellular telephones are prohibited in correctional facilities because they are known to be used by prisoners to intimidate witnesses, orchestrate narcotics transactions and facilitate other criminal activity.
Stanley is facing a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. A date for sentencing has not been set.
As part of his plea, Sharpe said, Woods admitted that on May 7, 2013, BOC officers found a shank, or homemade knife, hidden in a mattress inside a cell solely occupied by Woods at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility on St. Croix. Woods was an inmate at the facility at the time.
Woods faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A date for sentencing has not been set.
The cases were investigated by the BOC and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rami S. Badawy.
