St. Thomas, USVI - Nilda N. Morton, 33, was sentenced on Thursday to 37 months in prison, to be run consecutively from any other sentence she is currently serving, for her contempt of Court for her refusal to testify in a revocation proceeding, after being ordered by the Court to respond to questioning by the prosecution, United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced. District Judge Curtis V. Gomez also sentenced Morton to three years of supervised release, also consecutive, 400 hours of community service, a $2,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.
On April 30, 2018, Morton was found guilty, by a jury of failing to answer questions of the prosecutor and the judge after being advised on numerous occasions that the 5th Amendment Right against self-incrimination was not applicable in her case. According to court testimony, Ms. Morton was called to testify as a witness in a revocation proceeding surrounding events directly related to her own criminal narcotics case, a case in which she had previously pled guilty and signed an agreement to cooperate with the government. As one of the conditions of her cooperation agreement, she agreed to testify fully and truthfully about her knowledge and participations in any crimes. During the revocation hearing, she chose to invoke her 5th Amendment privilege as to other questions directly pertaining to her underlying case - a privilege she had previously waived by her guilty plea and cooperation agreement.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Delia Smith.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
