Dwayne Wesselhoft, 29, of St. Croix was arrested Tuesday on an indictment charging him with possession of a firearm and ammunition by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, unauthorized possession of a firearm and unauthorized possession of ammunition, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
Wesselhoft made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon in District Court and was released to a third-party custodian.
According to the indictment, Wesselhoft possessed a Taurus model PT 24-77 Pro DS, 9 mm Luger pistol, 50 Blazer 9 mm bullets, and 40 Remington, 9 mm bullets.
If convicted of possession of a firearm and/or ammunition by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, Wesselhoft faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for each count.
If convicted of unauthorized possession of a firearm, Wesselhoft faces a mandatory minimum sentence of a year imprisonment and a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.
If convicted of unauthorized possession of ammunition, Wesselhoft faces a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.
The indictment is the result of investigative work by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Virgin Islands Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rami. S. Badawy.
