July 12, 2001 – Locally infamous prisoner Bradley "Hurtie" Maxwell is the first criminal to be enrolled in the recently launched VI Project Exile. Attorney General Iver Stridiron said Maxwell was shipped to a Virginia prison on Tuesday, the same day the program was announced.
The project sends anyone convicted of committing a gun crime, or possessing an illegal weapon, to a mainland prison. The "Red Onion" prison in Virginia, where Maxwell was sent, is reputedly one of the toughest prisons in the United States, with as much as a 24-hour daily lockdown.
Maxwell, who escaped from jail once on St. Thomas and once on St. Croix, was sentenced by Territorial Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar last year to 30 years in prison for killing bar owner John Alfred Adams in 1997, and an additional five years for escaping jail.
Stridiron said the cost is about the same, $65 a day, to house prisoners here or on the mainland. He said four more cases will be sent away shortly, though he declined to name names for security reasons.
"This thing is serious," he said. "We are also enforcing laws about bringing guns into the territory."
He said the V.I. Port Authority is being instructed to warn incoming boat traffic about penalties for bringing weapons in.
