St. Thomas, USVI – U.S. Attorney Adam F. Sleeper announced today that Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Molloy sentenced Carlos Cruz Resto, 40, of Puerto Rico, to 87 months’ imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). Cruz Resto was also placed on five years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.
According to court documents, on July 21, 2025, Cruz Resto was the captain of a vessel traveling in the waters near Savanah Island, just west of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. At approximately 3:00 a.m., U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection Air and Marine (AMO) detected the vessel operating without navigation lights and traveling towards St. Thomas from Culebra, Puerto Rico. AMO launched a vessel to investigate and located the lights-out vessel west of Savanah Island, headed towards Culebra. Cruz Resto fled from the AMO vessel at a high rate of speed while his companion threw duffle bags overboard. Cruz Resto stopped the vessel only after AMO agents fired warnings flares in front of the fleeing boat. Once the boat was stopped, and the defendant and another male were arrested, AMO agents searched the area and recovered two duffle bags that were thrown overboard. The duffel bags contained 65 packages. A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Laboratory analyst confirmed that the 65 packages contained approximately 65 kilograms of cocaine.
This case was investigated jointly by AMO and the DEA. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erik Tate and Criminal Chief Kyle Payne.