Three St. Croix Men Plead Guilty to Distribution of Cocaine and Crack Cocaine

St. Croix, USVI – United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced that on Friday, January 18, 2019, Robert Klyvert, 47, of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge George Cannon, Jr., to distribution of crack cocaine. On January 29, 2019, Nolly King Jr., 36, pleaded guilty to distribution of crack cocaine and Thaddeus Hendricks, 39, both of St. Croix, pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine, before Judge Cannon.

According to plea agreements filed with the court, in September of 2016, the defendant, Robert Klyvert, aka "Family", told a confidential human source (CHS) that he wanted to begin supplying cocaine to the CHS directly, now that one of Klyvert’s associates was dead. Through phone calls and text messages over the next few months, Klyvert informed the CHS that he had a kilogram of cocaine in Florida; that Klyvert would contact the CHS once the cocaine arrived in the United States; and that the CHS would need to travel to Florida to receive it. Klyvert also stated that the cocaine would be "fronted" to the CHS, who would have approximately a week to sell the drugs and pay $25,000 to Klyvert. In addition, Klyvert advised the CHS that the cocaine was not good for "the nose" (in other words, to snort as powder cocaine) and that it was only suitable for converting into crack cocaine. Klyvert told the CHS that if he sold this kilo quickly, the defendant’s supplier would ship another kilogram to the United States on January 2, 2017, and the CHS could purchase that kilogram as well.

After a series of text messages from Klyvert, the CHS obtained the cocaine from defendant Nolly King at King’s Florida residence. Shortly thereafter, Klyvert texted the CHS advising the CHS that he only needed to pay $22,000 for the cocaine, as the amount of cocaine was approximately 4 ounces short of a full kilo, so he did not need to pay the $25,000 they had previously agreed upon. Laboratory tests subsequently confirmed that the substance received by the CHS on December 30, 2016 was cocaine base (also known as "crack" cocaine) and cocaine hydrochloride with a net weight of over 884 grams.

Shortly thereafter on January 15, 2017, defendant Hendricks travelled from St. Croix to St. Thomas to deliver cocaine for Robert Klyvert aka "Family." The CHS picked up Hendricks at the Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas and transported him to the Palms Court Hotel. The CHS gave Hendricks $22,000 in exchange for cocaine that the CHS had previously picked up in Orlando. Hendricks returned to St. Croix, where Klyvert met Hendricks at the Rohlsen Airport. Laboratory tests subsequently confirmed that the cocaine transported by Hendricks had a net weight of over 971.8 grams.

Klyvert faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and not more than life, and up to a $10,000,000 fine. His sentencing date has been set for May 22, 2019. King faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and not more than life and up to a $10,000,000 fine. Hendricks faces a mandatory minimum of five (5) years and not more than 40 years and up to a $5,000,000 fine. A sentencing date has been set for May 30, 2019 for both King and Hendricks.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rhonda Williams-Henry and Melissa Ortiz.