Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ST. THOMAS – Acting U.S. Attorney Adan F. Sleeper announced today that Brian Santiago
Gonzalez, 25, of Puerto Rico, was sentenced on July 1, 2025, by Chief District Judge Robert A.
Molloy to 137 months’ imprisonment and 4 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to
one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine on December 9, 2024.
According to court documents, on March 29, 2022, Brian Santiago Gonzalez and co-defendant
Wesly Albert Amaro were stopped in the waters near Savanah Island, just west of St. Thomas,
USVI. At approximately 4:00 a.m., the United States Coast Guard (USCG) detected a vessel
operating without navigation lights traveling at a high rate of speed from Culebra, PR towards
Hendrick Bay, St. Thomas. Customs and Boarder Protection Air and Marine (AMO) vessels
responded as the USCG provided updates on the vessel’s location. AMO agents located the lightsout
vessel using radar and attempted a stop. The vessel fled while the two men onboard jettisoned
bags overboard. The vessel would not heave to, so AMO agents disabled the vessel’s engine.
During the chase, AMO agents marked the locations where duffle bags were discarded from the
vessel. Upon returning to the marked areas, AMO agents recovered three duffel bags containing
79 kilograms of cocaine.
Wesly Albert Amaro was sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment and 3 years of supervised
release on August 18, 202, following his guilty plea.
CBP-AMO, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations
investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Payne prosecuted the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten
the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional
information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.