STT Man Gets 33 Months for Gun Possession

The Virgin Islands Department of Justice sentenced a St. Thomas man convicted of a prior felony to serve 33 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm,the VIDOJ announced in a release on Thursday.

Leroy Henry Jr.,30, will face an additional two years of supervised release on top of the 33 month prison term for one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, United States Attorney C.F. Shappert said in the statement.

According to the release, an anonymous tip from USVI Crime Stoppers reported that Henry Jr. possessed a gun in a hidden compartment of his blue Infiniti and that Henry Jr. planned to use the firearm to “exact revenge on his brother’s murderer.”

Based on the tip from USVI Crime Stoppers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant on January 14th. During the search, federal agents found a fully loaded .23 glock pistol below the cupholders in the hidden compartment. Later, Henry Jr. told agents that he obtained the firearm from a friend, according to the release.

During court proceedings, an FBI forensic examiner testified that DNA analysis revealed that it was “78 septillion times more likely that Henry’s DNA was present on the Glock confiscated from his vehicle.”

The Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the FBI to investigate the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and George Andrew Massucco-LaTaif represented the prosecution. Chief District Court Judge Robert Anthony Molloy issued the sentence.

According to the release, 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, the release states.

Gun violence remains a pressing issue in the territory. Of the 40 murders reported territory-wide in 2021, have ties to gun violence according to the St. Thomas Source.