Two men from T&T have been sentenced in the United States to four years and nine months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to smuggle goods from the United States.
The Department of Justice confirmed in a statement yesterday that US District Judge Steven Merryday ruled against 30-year-old Tevin Oliver of Homestead and 31-year-old Jameal Kaia Phillip of T&T.
The statement said the defendants also agreed to forfeit various firearms, ammunition, and related items which facilitated the offences. Oliver and Phillip pleaded guilty on April 11.
Last October, US attorney Roger Handberg announced an indictment charging Oliver, Phillip, and 31-year-old Edward Soloman King III of Tampa with conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States.
According to their plea agreements, Oliver and Phillip were part of a ring that unlawfully exported firearms, firearms components (including upper/lower receivers and gun parts kits), and related items from Florida to T&T between 2019 and 2022. Oliver and Phillip are both nationals of Trinidad.
The firearms, which included pistols and long rifles, and related equipment, were concealed within boxing/fight equipment, speakers, and other household items to avoid detection by law enforcement and customs authorities. Conspirators also acquired firearms from different sellers through straw purchases, falsely representing the identities of the actual purchasers and recipients of the firearms, as well as their ultimate destination.
The ruling comes three weeks after the US Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives Congressman Hakeem Jeffries told the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting in Port-of-Spain "We hear your concerns" regarding the trafficking of illegal weapons from the US into the region.
According to a Department of Justice release, “On or about April 7, 2021, Oliver shipped a package concealing and containing various firearms and related equipment, including a Taurus G2C 9mm pistol, a SAR Arms SAR-9 9mm pistol, a Taurus G3 9mm pistol, and a Ruger Security-9 9mm pistol, from Miami, Florida to T&T. Authorities in Trinidad seized those firearms and other related items that had been concealed in the shipment at Piarco International Airport on or about April 22, 2021.
“Dismantling this illicit weapons trafficking network makes a significant impact toward lowering crime and gun violence in T&T, and the Caribbean,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kristopher Pagitt.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), including HSI’s Attaché (Caribbean), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the T&T Ministry of National Security (Transnational Organised Crime Unit) and T&T Police Service (Special Investigations Unit), US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Risha Asokan and Cherie Krigsman.