Dec. 12, 2008 — Former V.I. Senator Alicia "Chucky" Hansen was convicted of three counts and acquitted of one count of misdemeanor failing to file an income tax return Wednesday, after a quick two-day trial in U.S. District Court on St. Croix.
The jury was deadlocked on the sole felony charge of filing a false return. The charges of failure to file or pay tax each carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison or a fine of $10,000 or both, for a possible maximum of 3 years and $30,000.
The court has set April 13 as a tentative sentencing date.
According to a report in the V.I. Daily News, visiting District Judge Timothy Savage dismissed the felony falsification charge on a motion by prosecuting Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhonda Henry. Savage also dismissed a perjury charge, also at the request of prosecutors.
This latest development caps several years of legal troubles for Hansen. In February 2007 she was found innocent of conflict of interest charges. (See: "Former Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen Found Innocent.")
The three minor failure to file charges for which Hansen was convicted, as well as the one acquittal and the dismissed charges, all arose out of that case, which in turn grew out of a separate, much larger public corruption scandal involving former government officials. Several GRM principals — Campbell Malone, a former legislative post auditor, St. Croix attorney Ashley Andrews and former government aide Ohanio Harris — have all been convicted and sentenced to prison for various charges connected to a fraudulent $3.6 million sewer contract.
While the illegal activities were going on, Hansen's husband, Esdel Hansen, was listed as GRM's sole employee. He was initially charged along with Malone, Andrews and Harris, but those charges were subsequently dropped and Esdel Hansen was found innocent of conflict of interest charges.
Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that in 2001 Alicia Hansen steered a $25,000 contract with the 24th Legislature to GRM where her husband worked, contending Hansen illegally benefited from the arrangement because she and her husband shared household incomes, and because GRM cut Hansen's campaign a check for $1,000.
Hansen's attorneys countered the $25,000 did not go to Esdel Hansen and the campaign contribution was perfectly legal.
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