District Court Chief Judge Wilma A. Lewis sentenced James Cruz, 20, to 84 months in prison for using a firearm during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced Tuesday.
Cruz also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $500 fine, Sharpe said.
Cruz pleaded guilty July 28 to using a firearm during a crime of violence. As part of his plea, Cruz admitted that on Feb. 21, at St. Croix Educational Complex, he and an accomplice ordered two people to the ground at gunpoint and then drove off with their pickup truck.
According to court records, V.I. Police Department officers located and pursued the accomplices, who abandoned the truck and fled on foot in the Longpoint area. VIPD officers were able to capture the two.
The accomplice is a juvenile, and his case has been adjudicated through the Office of the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands.
The VIPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian H. Stringer.
