A jury in St. Thomas nailed former US Virgin Islands budget director Jenifer O'Neal on bribery and money laundering charges after prosecutors showed she approved fake invoices worth an extra $70,000 that were supposed to fund ex-Police Commissioner Ray Martinez's restaurant. O'Neal, who came from Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, got convicted on every single count after the government proved she was moving government contract money around while getting personal kickbacks.
The case leaned hard on cooperating witness David Whitaker, whose shady business dealings with officials gave prosecutors their smoking gun evidence. Text messages showed O'Neal laughing about the inflated $216,000 invoice before telling her staff to push it through, and wire transfers proved Whitaker paid her coffee shop lease with the sketchy funds. Defense lawyers tried calling Whitaker a serial liar, but prosecutors had recordings and money trails backing up their story.
O'Neal stays out of jail until her sentencing hearing drops next summer.
The case leaned hard on cooperating witness David Whitaker, whose shady business dealings with officials gave prosecutors their smoking gun evidence. Text messages showed O'Neal laughing about the inflated $216,000 invoice before telling her staff to push it through, and wire transfers proved Whitaker paid her coffee shop lease with the sketchy funds. Defense lawyers tried calling Whitaker a serial liar, but prosecutors had recordings and money trails backing up their story.
O'Neal stays out of jail until her sentencing hearing drops next summer.
