FEDERAL JUDGE EXCLUDES RIFLE MAGAZINES FROM ST. CROIX DRUG TRIAL

A federal judge has prevented prosecutors from presenting two AK-47 magazines as evidence in the drug case against K'Shawn Wilson, who was arrested after authorities found roughly 10.63 kilograms of suspected marijuana in his luggage at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix.

Chief U.S. District Judge Robert A. Molloy issued the ruling on October 13, granting Wilson's request to keep the magazines out of trial. The judge determined that the items had no bearing on whether Wilson knew he possessed drugs and that showing them to jurors risked creating unfair bias against him.

Wilson's arrest followed an August 2 investigation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. CBP agents opened luggage labeled as containing inflatable pool chairs and instead found vacuum-sealed bags with a leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana. The suspected drugs weighed approximately 23.4 pounds. The same luggage held the two AK-47 magazines.

Government lawyers had contended that the magazines showed Wilson was comfortable handling firearms and would therefore have known how heavy guns actually weigh. This knowledge, prosecutors said, would have tipped him off that the luggage was too light to hold firearms, meaning he must have known it contained drugs instead.

Judge Molloy rejected that theory. He found no real link between owning firearm magazines and understanding that luggage held a controlled substance. The judge also noted that prosecutors never claimed Wilson thought he was transporting guns or magazines rather than narcotics.

The court further concluded that even if the magazines had some relevance, allowing them into evidence would confuse jurors and push them to decide the case on grounds unrelated to the drug charge itself. The risk of unfair prejudice, the judge found, far outweighed any benefit to the government's case.

Wilson's legal team filed the exclusion motion on September 25, arguing that the magazines had nothing to do with the trafficking charge and that displaying assault-rifle components to a jury would trigger prejudice. They also noted that possessing the magazines would not necessarily have been illegal even if Wilson knew they were in his bag.

According to the criminal complaint, Wilson told investigators that someone in Orlando had paid him to deliver the bags to a St. Croix address and that he had not looked inside them. He said he had done similar work before. After his arrest, Wilson was released on a $25,000 unsecured appearance bond. The October 13 ruling addresses only whether the magazines can be admitted; it does not resolve the underlying drug charges or determine whether Wilson knowingly transported marijuana.