ST. CROIX MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF A FIREARM IN A SCHOOL ZONE

St. Croix, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Jimmar A. Payne, 31, of St. Croix, pleaded guilty in District Court before Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson III, to Possession of a Firearm in a School Zone. The sentencing in this matter is scheduled for December 12, 2024, where Payne faces a maximum sentence of five years' incarceration. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents, on January 29, 2023, Virgin Islands Police Department officers conducted a traffic stop of Payne’s vehicle on the Melvin Evans Highway in the vicinity of the Ricardo Richards Elementary School for failure to display a visible rear license plate. Officers later observed a handgun protruding from under the driver’s seat of Payne’s vehicle. Payne did not have a license to possess the firearm.

This case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel H. Huston. This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and community leaders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. For more information on the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, please see:
https://www.justice.gov/psn.