St. Thomas, USVI- United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today that Jason Lee Current, 43, of St. Croix, appeared before Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon for an Initial Appearance after his arrest by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents on the charges of Conspiracy to Possess a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute and Attempted Possession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.
According to court documents, on November 5, 2020, Custom and Border Protection officers in San Juan, PR, intercepted a mail parcel that contained 120 grams of Methamphetamine and 341 grams of Marijuana. The package was mailed from California and addressed to Current. On Nov. 10, 2020, the parcel was prepared by law enforcement for a controlled pickup. The controlled substances were replaced with representative facsimiles (sham), and the parcel was outfitted with a tracking device. That same day, Current picked up the parcel at a postal facility. Law enforcement surveillance monitored the pick-up, but the defendant eluded the tailing vehicles after detecting the tracking device. The defendant was subsequently taken into custody on Nov. 13, 2020.
Current has an outstanding felony warrant from the state of Hawaii for failure to appear. As a result, the Government moved to detain Current pending his trial in this matter. A Detention Hearing is set for Nov. 19, 2020.
The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel H. Huston.
United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert reminds the public that an arrest warrant is merely a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
