Multiple High-Profile Inmates Among 11 Granted Parole by VI Board

Of the 24 parole applications that came before the Virgin Islands Parole Board in December 2023, 11 have been granted, according to a release issued by the board. Additionally, three applicants decided not to appear before the board and 10 were judged not to have been sufficiently rehabilitated and were denied parole at this time. 

The recently paroled include those serving time for causing the deaths of others: Julius Viera, Carlos Acosta, Edgar Ortiz-Carmona, and Kaleb Lopez Josue. Viera was found guilty of several felonies including voluntary manslaughter after a 2013 shooting incident on Market Street in Christiansted left Ronald Coulon dead and two others wounded. Acosta, Ortiz-Carmona, an Josue, meanwhile, were serving time for the 2008 killing of Dwayne Lynch on St. Thomas. Lester Roberts had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder.

Others who gained parole in December had been previously convicted of gun crimes including illegal firearm possession and unauthorized discharge of a firearm within 1000 feet of a school: Quanza Heath, Callistus Etienne and Johverne Meyers.

The remaining two parolees, Winston Georges and Thierre Louis, were serving time for domestic violence convictions – aggravated rape and third-degree assault respectively.

Jahzeel Fenton, serving 20 years for shooting his girlfriend in 2010 when she broke up with him, was recommended for continuing rehabilitation and denied parole. The shooting, which occurred in front of the woman’s young children, resulted in the amputation of both of her legs and forced her onto lifelong dialysis due to the damage to her body. Sentenced following a plea agreement in 2017, Fenton lost an appeal the following year. He was 17 at the time of the shooting.