Tortola Man Sentenced to 10 Months for Possession of a 40 cal. Firearm by an Illegal Alien

St. Thomas, USVI – Ashan Westcott, 29, of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, was sentenced on Thursday, October 10, 2019, for possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced.

District Judge Curtis V. Gomez sentenced Westcott to 10 months in prison, followed by a one-year term of supervised release.

According to the plea agreement, on March 2, 2019, the Virgin Islands Police Department ("VIPD") responded to a motorcycle and vehicle accident on Turpentine Run Road, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Westcott, who was injured in the accident, was identified as the driver of the motorcycle. In response to an EMT’s request to locate the defendant’s ID, a VIPD officer looked in a backpack Westcott had been wearing at the time of the accident. While looking for the ID, the officer found a loaded Glock Model 23, .40 caliber handgun in Westcott’s backpack.

Westcott is a citizen of Tortola, British Virgin Islands and when he was apprehended on March 2, 2019, was in the United States illegally.

This case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Meredith J. Edwards.