Ray Martinez, the former V.I. Police Commissioner, and former Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal have been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.
Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White and Benjamin Hendricks were charged with similar crimes in a separate indictment.
Martinez and O’Neal were together charged with two counts of devising an honest services wire fraud scheme — with three more counts against Martinez — and engaging in a money laundering conspiracy. Both were charged with committing bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and Martinez is also facing two counts of obstruction of justice.
Both former cabinet members resigned at the request of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. in June amid a federal investigation into a contract awarded to cybersecurity and surveillance company Mon Ethos. That company’s founder, David Whitaker, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges in September following an agreement with prosecutors signed in March. Last summer, Martinez received a target letter from federal investigators and had his personal cellphone seized. O’Neal was also subpoenaed and surrendered her cellphone.
According to the indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Friday, Martinez accepted at least $110,358 in bribes from Whitaker. The bribes included cash payments, equipment and labor for a restaurant owned by Martinez, flights to Boston and hotel rooms, expensive meals, tickets to sporting events, tuition payments for family members and rent payments for Martinez’s family home. In return, Martinez “agreed to, and did perform official acts in his capacity as the VIPD Commissioner.”
O’Neal has been accused of accepting $17,730 in bribes from Whitaker to pay a security deposit and two months’ rent for a coffee shop. In exchange, prosecutors said O’Neal took official action on Whitaker’s behalf, “including authorizing the payments of invoices for Whitaker’s companies, and pressuring, advising, and directing OMB officials to facilitate the payment of invoices for Whitaker’s companies.”
Prosecutors laid out the charges against Martinez and O’Neal in a 32-page indictment that included transcripts of recorded conversations and text messages.
According to their timeline, Whitaker met with Martinez at his restaurant in November 2022 to discuss outstanding invoices for work Whitaker performed for VIPD. Martinez allegedly told Whitaker that he couldn’t focus on the invoices because he was trying to get the restaurant off the ground. Whitaker offered to help and purchased $3,656.74 worth of equipment that month and $1,443.85 for more equipment two weeks later, and he continued to make payments through the first half of 2023.
As an apparent smoke screen, Whitaker and Martinez signed a memorandum the following April explaining that the payments were for a show called “Steak Out,” in which Martinez would cook and discuss closed cases he had worked on.
Whitaker wired $27,214.28 to Martinez’s spouse and to a construction company over the next few months. When Martinez traveled to Boston in May 2023, Whitaker paid for his $1,550 ticket and a nearly $15,000 hotel suite. During a second trip to Boston, Whitaker again paid for Martinez’s ticket and picked up the $22,586 hotel bill and expenses — which included a $1,082 meal the two shared at a steakhouse.
Martinez allegedly complained to Whitaker after they returned to the territory that he couldn’t afford rent payments. Whitaker then wired $11,500 to Martinez’s wife, writing in the memo line “Reimbursement of Exp. For Steak Out.”
“In reality,” prosecutors wrote, “there were no outstanding expenses for ‘Steak Out,’ and this statement was an attempt to conceal the true reason for Whitaker’s payment to Martinez, which was to pay Martinez’s rent for his family home.”
Later, Whitaker purchased a $4,567 grill for Martinez’s restaurant.
Martinez authorized and signed — or directed others to authorize and sign — payments for 13 invoices submitted by Whitaker’s businesses during this period, totaling $1,359,000 in payment made by the U.S. Virgin Islands government.
At the same time, Whitaker solicited Martinez’s help to obtain a $5 million multiyear contract providing technical support for VIPD criminal investigations. Whitaker later submitted a bid for a one-year, $1,489,683 contract instead, which Martinez approved in August 2023. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. signed the contract in October 2023, authorizing payments made from American Rescue Plan Act — or ARPA — funds.
Whitaker contacted Martinez in October 2023 to discuss outstanding invoices under the new contract, and — once again — Martinez allegedly told Whitaker that he needed to focus on his restaurant.
“The next day … Martinez called Whitaker and told him that private school for his two sons cost approximately $4,100 per month. Martinez told Whitaker that he wanted Whitaker to start paying for this expense,” according to the indictment. Whitaker paid the amount in October and December 2023 and February 2024.
The pair again traveled to Boston in November 2023, and Whitaker again footed the bill for first-class airfare and a hotel suite. At one point, Whitaker texted confirmation of the reservation to Martinez.
“Not concerned with room confirmation,” Martinez replied in a text. “More concerned with Butler Service Confirmation.”
Prosecutors said Whitaker called Martinez soon after because he didn’t have money to cover the November 2023 Boston trip. Whitaker suggested that Martinez approve adding extra money to that month’s invoice for expenses and to have “some extra money in the kitty.”
“Yeah, I’m good with that,” Martinez said, according to a recording of their phone call. Whitaker then withdrew the original $285,000 invoice and resubmitted one for approximately $325,000.
The arrangement continued into 2024.
Martinez called Whitaker on Jan. 1 and complained that he needed more money, stressing the need to get his restaurant open in time for Carnival.
“Got to, got to, go to,” he said in the call, a transcript of which is included in the indictment. “The end of March is carnival [sic] because that is where we will do the best to start recouping some of these monies and more importantly getting the exposure.”
Whitaker suggested increasing the invoice amount.
“Okay,” Martinez replied. “Let’s do that, let’s do that.”
In a follow-up call, which was also recorded, Martinez instructed Whitaker to inflate the invoice by $70,000. A partial transcript of that conversation is included in the indictment and copied below:
Two days later, Martinez asked Whitaker if there was any way to add more money to give then-Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal a gift of “maybe 10 or fifteen thousand bucks,” asking if the money could be provided in cash.
Whitaker recorded a lunch meeting with O’Neal on Jan. 14, according to the indictment, during which O’Neal said: “that she did not need the money owed to her in cash, but that Whitaker could buy things for her indirectly and pay for them.” Martinez later followed up with Whitaker and said he had told O’Neal that he could get her at least $10,000 in the coming weeks. Whitaker then called O’Neal.
“During that call, O’Neal confirmed that Martinez was going to give her $10,000, paid for by an inflated invoice submitted to VI-OMB by Whitaker,” according to the indictment.
Whitaker sent O’Neal a follow-up text on Jan. 20 asking if the invoice had been processed, saying, “Ray [Martinez] may never speak to us again if we leave before he gets the 70K for his [sic] the food shop.” According to the indictment, O’Neal told Whitaker she would check and, four minutes later, texted a staff member,
“Good afternoon … if you guys have ARPA payments pending to be processed, please get them entered so that they can make Tuesday’s check run,” she wrote. “Please also follow up with DOF on the premium pay and anything else ARPA related …”
Over the next few months and using money from the inflated invoice, prosecutors alleged, Whitaker made another restaurant purchase and sent tuition money to Martinez’s wife.
Martinez, O’Neal and Whitaker later met at the latter’s office on April 6. During that meeting — which prosecutors said was also recorded — Martinez suggested using the remaining money from the inflated invoice to pay for the lease of O’Neal’s coffee shop. O’Neal agreed, and the trio discussed how to make the payment in a way that wasn’t traceable.
Whitaker sent the $17,730 payment to O’Neal’s landlord on April 15.
The obstruction charges against Martinez’s alleged attempts to conceal the bribes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants against his and O’Neal’s cellphones last June.
Martinez had multiple conversations with Whitaker over the following days, according to the indictment, during which Martinez discussed getting their stories straight and told Whitaker to destroy his phone and laptop.
News of the indictments against two former high-ranking government officials — and one current one — broke earlier this week. Bryan acknowledged them in a statement released on Thursday.
“While these allegations are deeply concerning, I want to emphasize the importance of allowing the legal process to unfold,” he said. “Every individual is entitled to due process, and I will respect that principle.”
Martinez and O’Neal appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday morning on St. Thomas.
