May 26, 2006 – As the trial of the government's case against Global Resources Management ended its third week, two defendants of the original five were left to face charges – Ashley Andrews, GRM president, and Campbell Malone, a certified public accountant who prepared financial documents for the company.
The original five also included Ohanio Harris, special assistant to the governor; former Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and her husband, Esdel Hansen, a former Public Works employee.
Harris pleaded guilty to conspiracy May 5, before the start of the trial. The former senator was separated from the initial case and is expected to be tried separately.
Earlier this week, visiting District Court Judge James Giles dismissed charges against Esdel Hansen. (See "Fraud and Conspiracy Charges Dismissed Against Esdel Hansen").
On Wednesday, Giles winnowed out some charges against Andrews. According to a report in The Avis, Giles dismissed counts of program fraud, graft, conflict of interest and two counts of false or fraudulent claims against Andrews.
Andrews, who is represented by attorney Stephen Brush, still faces territorial and federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, program fraud, making false claims and inducing conflict of interest. According to an account in The Daily News, the charges dismissed against Andrews, came from his involvement with GRM's senate contract. The charges related to the sewer contract, still stand.
Former Sen. Hansen requested a $25,000 contract for GRM in 2002 to "examine technical documents and issues." According to the Daily News account, work was done between Feb. 1 and Dec. 31, 2002, on the contract and was paid our of the Legislature's central staff funds.
The contract was never signed, the Daily News account says, by Andrews or then-Sen. President Almando "Rocky" Liburd, but Liburd signed an invoice for the $25,000. After the check was cut in August 2002, GRM made a $1,000 donation to Hansen's campaign fund.
Andrews' current charges stem from his involvement in a scheme to defraud the government of $3.6 million in a no-bid contract granted in 2002 to repair St. Croix's failing sewer system, though the company could produce no evidence of having more than one employee, no equipment, assets or previous contracts.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and former Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood have testified in the high profile trial. (See "GRM Trial in Full Swing on St. Croix").
At Wednesday's trial, Assistant U. S. Attorney Nelson Jones finished questioning Malone, who began testifying on Tuesday. Malone is represented by attorney Leonard Francis Jr.
Jones, according to The Avis, presented a document Malone had prepared for GRM. Jones pointed out an entry in which Malone indicated that Esdel Hansen had worked 36 hours on a specific date. After admitting there are 24 hours in a day, Malone said, "This is just a typing error."
Jones, according to The Avis, pointed out more errors in hours reported, which Malone attributed to "human error." In further questioning by Francis, Malone said he had never recognized false information on a bonding application or claim document that he had prepared.
Brush and Francis both rested their cases Wednesday. Closing arguments will begin Tuesday, since Monday is a holiday.
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