District Court Chief Judge Wilma A. Lewis sentenced 23-year-old Jahseen Simmonds to 21 months in prison for possession of prison contraband and possession of a firearm while under indictment, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Carlos Cases announced Monday.
The sentence was handed down Friday, according to Sharpe’s news release.
Lewis also sentenced the Simmonds to serve three years of supervised release, to pay a $300 special assessment and $600 fine, and to obtain his GED and vocational or educational training to obtain a license or certification at least six months before the expiration of his supervised release.
Sharpe said Simmonds pleaded guilty May 11 to two counts of possession of prison contraband and one count of possession of a firearm while under indictment. According to court documents, on or about Aug. 30, 2013, V.I. Bureau of Corrections officers conducted a search of a cell occupied solely by Simmonds. The officers seized two shanks on the top bunk. On April 7, 2014, federal officers conducted a search of a cell occupied by Simmonds and seized a shank that was under his mattress.
On Jan. 2, V.I. Police Department officers observed Simmonds in the Ruby Rouss Housing Complex on St. Croix with a clear plastic bag that contained a green leafy substance. Simmonds admitted to the police that the bag contained marijuana and he gave the bag to the police. When asked if he had any other contraband, Simmonds ran, police said, and the officers chased and caught him. Upon searching him, the officers found a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, a loaded magazine and a switchblade knife, according to court records.
The case was investigated by the VIPD and the FBI. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhonda Williams-Henry.
