77.9 F
Cruz Bay
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesTYSON DETENTION HEARING DETAILS ALLEGED CRIMES

TYSON DETENTION HEARING DETAILS ALLEGED CRIMES

At a St. Croix detention hearing Monday, prosecutors produced two convicted criminals, one an undercover FBI informant, who testified that Narcotics Strike Force agent Achille Tyson told them of his drug deals, knowledge of the murder of a V.I. police officer and plans to discredit or murder law-enforcement enemies.
Federal prosecutors want to keep Tyson in jail without bail until his drug and conspiracy trial begins. He was implicated last week in the high-profile 1994 shooting death of St. Thomas police officer Steven Alexis Hodge.
The first witness before Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Resnick was Tyson's cellmate while in Florida, Don Bean. Bean said Tyson told him of his drug deals and of who killed Hodge outside his parents' home in Lindbergh Bay on St. Thomas. Bean was placed in the cell as a decoy and is actually an undercover informant for the FBI.
Bean also testified that Tyson appeared unconcerned about his upcoming drug and conspiracy trial because, Tyson told him, he has money hidden away to pay off jury members.
The second witness called to the stand Monday was a former drug dealer. Though he is in protective custody and his identity was not revealed, the man testified that Tyson once stole $2,000 from him during a drug bust. He later claimed that Tyson and he set up an agreement wherein he would sell cocaine stolen by Tyson from other drug dealers. They would then split the profits of those sales.
But Bean's testimony before the court Monday was the most revealing. He told of a master plan Tyson developed to discredit the top brass of the V.I. Police Department so as to deflect attention from his drug investigation.
Bean said Tyson would attempt to discredit Police Commissioner Franz Christian, his assistant, Lt. Angel Santos, and St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis. If those efforts failed, Bean testified, Tyson's plan would turn to killing a group of "bad guys" who had tried to halt Tyson's alleged drug running or who assisted the FBI in their investigation of him.
The plan, according to Bean, called for Tyson or his associates to kidnap FBI Agent Roberto Enriquez and former Police Commissioner Ramon Davila, chain them, take them out to sea and dump them into the water alive.
Other bad guys who Tyson said attempted to target his drug operation included: FBI Supervisor James Judd, attorney Jomo Meade, who aided the FBI investigation, George Osborne of the St. Croix NSF and immigration agent David Levering.
Bean also testified about a "good guys" list, which included almost two dozen names of drug dealers, police officers and allies of Tyson. Among them: former Sen. Mary Ann Pickard; her husband, Donald, who Monday offered to put up property to secure Tyson's release; former drug policy adviser Wayne Chinnery; the present deputy drug czar, Meredith Neilsen; attorney Lee Rohn; and attorney Martial Webster, Tyson's current defense counsel.
During cross-examination, Tyson's attorneys attacked the credibility of the witnesses, calling them liars who would say anything in court to cut a deal with prosecutors. Resnick recessed the hearing Monday afternoon to allow a defense witness to arrive on St. Croix to testify. Former NSF agent Fitzroy Brann is expected to take the stand when the detention hearing resumes Tuesday.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.