Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Three found guilty of illegal gun possession in 5-year-old case

Three found guilty of illegal gun possession in 5-year-old case

Roughly half-a-decade since their arrest, three men were found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm in the Magistrate’s Court this week.
The three accused, Edgar Carasco, Darryl Frett and Jose Almestica, were all slapped with the conviction by Magistrate Tamia Richards on October 25.

Carasco appeared in person while Frett attended via Zoom in police lock-up. The court was told that Almestica has been missing since Hurricane Irma in 2017 when he escaped custody.

Almestica, whose trial had already begun before he fled, was a prisoner at Her Majesty’s Prison Hurricane Irma but escaped after the hurricane caused substantial damage to the Balsam Ghut-based facility. He has not been seen since.

In handing down the judgment, Magistrate Richards said the three accused were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The three defendants’ case started back in August of 2016 when they were stopped by police officers in Road Town and a vehicle being driven by Carasco was searched.

Frett and Almestica were two passengers in the car. The officer on conducting the search found a nine-millimetre semi-automatic pistol, ammunition, approximately $49,000, and a money-counting machine. Upon discovery, Almestica ran away and he was found in a nearby bakery.

Based on Carasco’s testimony, he was on his lunch break on the day in question. He said he was going to Kelly’s Restaurant when he met Frett who he knew previously. After this encounter, Carasco and Frett decided to go to Struggling Man’s Place.

He borrowed his friend Chris’ vehicle as neither he nor his co-defendant was driving. On their way to Struggling Man’s Place, the two men met their other co-defendant Almestica who asked them for a drive to Town. Frett implored Carasco to oblige to Almestica’s request.

According to Carasco, when they arrived at their destination, Almestica asked if they could go in town and he would buy them lunch at the Sporting Club in Town as a thank you.

But Magistrate Richards said she did not believe Carasco’s testimony so she rejected it.

Magistrate Richards said Carasco’s defence relied on the fact he was simply going to get lunch during his break when he met Frett and later Almestica who he initially told the police was his friend but changed his story and said he was a stranger.

The magistrate said it made no sense that Carasco would accept a stranger’s offer to take him to West End for a free lunch.

She added Carasco said he decided to get lunch at approximately 12 pm on the day in question. He further said the police searched the vehicle at approximately 3:25 pm. Magistrate Richards said it simply did not make sense that a hungry Carasco did not get any lunch within the three-hour window.

She also said Carasco did not mention Almestica providing him or Frett with money for the lunch he promised despite the police finding the $49,000 in the back of the vehicle.

Carasco was represented by attorney Valerie Gordon and Frett was represented by Reynela Rawlins. The two defendants present were ordered remanded until their sentencing on November 24.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×