District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez today sentenced Angelo Hill, 51, a former Virgin Islands Police Department sergeant, to 21 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
On December 18, 2013, Hill pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine after he was arrested on May 24, 2013, and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Hill was arrested as part of the investigation of Roberto Tapia, Director of the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) Division of Environmental Enforcement. On September 12, 2013, he was charged in a 34-count second superseding indictment, along with six other defendants, including Tapia, Raymond Brown, Hector Alcenio, Edwin Monsanto, Stephen Torres, and Eddie Lopez-Lopez.
The case was investigated by the Public Corruption Task Force, which comprises the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; Virgin Islands Police Department; U.S. Marshals Service; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI); U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); United States Coast Guard; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly B. Lake.