A 25-year-old Puerto Rican man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for smuggling cocaine near the waters of St. Thomas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands.
Brian Santiago Gonzalez was sentenced Tuesday by Chief District Judge Robert A. Molloy to 137 months in prison and four years of supervised release after pleading guilty in December to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
According to court documents, Santiago Gonzalez and co-defendant Wesly Albert Amaro were intercepted on March 29, 2022, near Savanah Island, west of St. Thomas, while traveling at high speed in a vessel without navigation lights. U.S. Coast Guard officials tracked the vessel, which was heading from Culebra, Puerto Rico, toward Hendrick Bay on St. Thomas, and coordinated with Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations to respond.
AMO agents located the vessel using radar and attempted to stop it, but the boat fled. The two men onboard began throwing bags overboard as the vessel continued to evade authorities. Agents ultimately disabled the vessel’s engine and later recovered three duffel bags containing 79 kilograms of cocaine from the water.
Amaro was sentenced in August 2022 to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release following his guilty plea.
