Calvert White, the former Sports, Parks and Recreation commissioner convicted last summer of honest services wire fraud and bribery, formally asked a federal judge for leniency ahead of his sentencing hearing next week.
White and business owner Benjamin Hendricks were found guilty in July following a federal investigation into a kickback scheme by which White — with Hendricks as a go-between — tried to solicit a $16,000 bribe in exchange for steering a federally-funded contract to a convicted felon who was already a cooperating witness in a separate public corruption investigation.
Honest services wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and bribery concerning federally funded programs carries a maximum 10-year penalty if it involves $5,000 or more, which is the exact amount the government’s cooperating witness wired to White over the course of their investigation. Last week, federal prosecutors recommended a 12-year sentence for White, and on Wednesday, they asked the court to mandate that White forfeit the money.
White’s attorney, Clive Rivers, requested a maximum 27-month sentence.
In an August letter to U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney, White asked for leniency in light of his “two decades serving the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands” through sports, youth programs and mentorship.
“I am not a career criminal, nor am I a person who has taken my position or responsibilities lightly,” White wrote. “I have made a mistake, one that I deeply regret, but I am still someone who believes in service, accountability, and growth. My family depends on me, and I depend on them. I still have work to do, and I am committed to using this chapter in my life to continue helping others, just as I have tried to do for many years.”
White’s parents, Barbara Holder and former Sen. Celestino White, who sits on the governing board of the V.I. Port Authority, similarly requested leniency. Those pleas were joined by the V.I. Superior Court’s presiding judge emeritus, Verne Antonio Hodge.
“Over the course of my career, I have sentenced many, but I have also witnessed firsthand the transformative power of leniency, accountability, and community support,” Hodge wrote in a July letter to Kearney. “That is why I write in full support of Mr. Calvert White and urge the Court to consider the lightest possible sentence.”
Hodge wrote that White was once a member of the Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra — which Hodge founded — and that White has “a strong, supportive family and a long record of service of mentorship.”
“He is not a threat to society, he is a product of it, shaped by the values of hard work, community, and giving back,” Hodge wrote.
Prosecutors argued in their own sentencing recommendation that White’s upbringing and former position of authority in the Virgin Islands government make him more culpable, not less.
“As a long-standing public servant, the defendant, perhaps more than anyone, knew that public service is a public trust, and that an official in such a prominent and sensitive position must always place loyalty to the Constitution, local and federal laws, and core principles of ethical conduct above personal interests and private gain,” U.S. Justice Department attorney Alex Dempsey wrote. “By steering a contract to his financial benefactor… the defendant breached the bond of trust that the citizenry bestowed upon him.”
That scheme, Dempsey wrote, “damaged and undermined the government’s procurement integrity.”
“Competitors that thought they were bidding on a level playing field — and citizens who thought that their public officials were maximizing their taxpayer dollars — both realize now that they have been deceived and cheated,” he argued.
White and Hendricks’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22 at the federal courthouse on St. Thomas.
