U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced that Tarik Babrow, a 24-year-old St. Thomas man, was sentenced by District Court Judge Wilma A. Lewis on the charge of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute.
Babrow was sentenced to nine months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He also was fined $1,000, with a $100 special assessment, and forfeited $2,871.
According to court documents, on Feb. 11 Babrow and three other co-conspirators flew into the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix on American Airlines flight number 2003 from Charlotte, North Carolina. Upon their arrival, several pieces of luggage were selected for physical inspection after anomalies were observed while the luggage was examined by an X-ray machine.
A subsequent search revealed several clear, vacuum sealed bundles containing a green, leafy substance, which later field-tested positive for marijuana. In total, approximately 6.33 kilograms of suspected marijuana were seized from Babrow and his co-conspirators. In addition, $2,871 was seized from him as drug trafficking proceeds.
Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel H. Huston prosecuted the case.
Shappert said the effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation that attempts to identify, disrupt and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at the Justice Department’s website.