Ray Martinez, former Police Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD), and Jenifer O’Neal, former Director of the Virgin Islands Office of Management and Budget, have been charged with bribery and money laundering conspiracy, according to an indictment unsealed on January 10.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, both defendants, residents of St. Thomas, made their initial court appearances on the same day.
The indictment alleges that Martinez, 56, and O’Neal, 53, accepted bribes from David Whitaker, a former government contractor, as part of a scheme spanning from November 2022 to June 2024. O’Neal is accused of joining the conspiracy by January 2024. Prosecutors claim the pair conspired to launder proceeds from the bribery scheme, including using the funds to pay rent for O’Neal’s coffee shop.
In exchange for the bribes, Martinez and O’Neal allegedly approved fraudulently inflated invoices and helped ensure payment to Whitaker by the Virgin Islands government. Martinez is further accused of assisting Whitaker in securing a $1.48 million VIPD contract in October 2023. Following the public disclosure of the investigation, Martinez allegedly obstructed justice by encouraging Whitaker to destroy evidence and submitting falsified documents in response to a subpoena.
In June 2024, Martinez resigned after news broke that he was implicated in an ongoing federal investigation. He had served roughly three years on the job. According to a local newspaper, the former police commissioner and his wife’s cellphones were later confiscated.
The charges against the defendants include five counts of honest services wire fraud, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; one count of federal program bribery, with a maximum penalty of 10 years; and one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries up to 20 years. Martinez faces two additional counts of obstruction of justice, each with a potential 20-year sentence.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Delia Smith for the District of the Virgin Islands, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the San Juan Field Office announced the charges.
The FBI’s San Juan Field Office, St. Thomas Resident Agency, is leading the investigation. Sentencing for Martinez and O’Neal will be determined by a federal district court judge, taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
