USVI: Martinez & O’Neal found guilty on all corruption charges
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St Thomas, USVI- The federal corruption trial that has gripped the U.S. Virgin Islands reached a landmark conclusion Thursday afternoon , as a jury found former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal guilty on all counts, convicting two of the territory’s most powerful former public officials of a sweeping scheme that prosecutors said “walked into corruption willfully.”
The verdict came just hours after jurors began deliberating at 8:30 a.m., marking a decisive end to a case built on months of investigative work, thousands of recorded calls, financial tracing, and testimony from cooperating witness David Whitaker, whose dealings with both defendants formed the core of the government’s case. Sentencing is set tentatively for the week of June 10th, and both defendants were permitted to remain out of custody until then.
The decision delivered the accountability prosecutors argued the law required when “public officials betray the people they serve,” and punctuated a trial that showcased starkly different portrayals of the same evidence — one depicting calculated abuse of office for personal gain, and the other insisting on legitimate business arrangements, bureaucratic delays, and the unreliability of a witness with a history of fraud.
Martinez, who faced ten counts in total, was convicted of every charge, including five counts of Honest Services Wire Fraud (Counts 1–5), Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds (Count 6), Money Laundering Conspiracy (Count , and two obstruction counts tied to efforts prosecutors said were meant to destroy evidence and fabricate a cover story (Counts 9 and 10). O’Neal, who faced Honest Services Wire Fraud (Counts 4–5), Money Laundering Conspiracy (Count , and Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds (Count 7), was also convicted on all charges.
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19 Responses to “USVI: Martinez & O’Neal found guilty on all corruption charges”
Appeal? They better take wa deh get and go sit down. The evidence speaks for itself. What an embarrassment. Like Andrew educated jack@33
USA Isa real place.
Your ancestors are weeping Madam!