Judge Denies New Trials for Martinez, O’Neal
A federal judge has denied requests for acquittals or new trials by former Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal, finding the evidence at trial sufficient to support their convictions. The 48-page memorandum by U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney rejected every defense argument and the pair are scheduled for sentencing in June, with appeals expected afterward.
District Judge Mark Kearney on Wednesday denied motions for new trials or acquittals by former Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal, concluding the trial record provided ample evidence to support their convictions (VINO; Guavaberry).
The rulings were contained in a sweeping 48-page memorandum in which the judge rejected every argument put forward by the defense teams and described the sequence of transactions and recorded conversations presented at trial (VINO). Martinez and O’Neal were convicted in December 2025 in a high-profile federal trial on charges tied to alleged bribery, honest services wire fraud and a money-laundering conspiracy involving government contracts funded by American Rescue Plan Act money; Martinez was also convicted of obstruction of justice (Guavaberry).
The case centers on dealings with Mon Ethos Pro Support, a digital solutions company run by David Whitaker, whom the memorandum identified as an “admitted federal felon and widely-known fraudster” who began working for the Virgin Islands Police Department in 2022 without a formal contract (VINO).
Whitaker submitted invoices, some of which required Martinez’s approval or routing, and later secured a nearly $1.5 million contract funded with ARPA funds in October 2023 that increased his interactions with government officials (VINO). At trial jurors heard testimony and saw recordings and documents showing Whitaker offered or paid for personal benefits to Martinez to secure invoice payments, including a November 2022 kitchen-supply payment tied to a so-called “Steak Out” arrangement, and later covered expenses tied to Martinez’s restaurant venture (VINO; Guavaberry).
The relationship expanded after the ARPA contract, with payments moving through OMB and conversations involving O’Neal about processing an allegedly inflated invoice and a down payment for a planned coffee shop lease at Yacht Haven Grande. The court memorandum details recorded meetings in which participants discussed inflating an invoice by $70,000 to cover restaurant equipment and possible funds for O’Neal, and noted a Mon Ethos payment of $17,730 to Yacht Haven Grande that jurors could link to O’Neal’s benefit from the scheme (VINO).
O’Neal had argued at trial that the lease payment was simply a gift from Martinez and that trying her alongside Martinez unfairly prejudiced her; Judge Kearney rejected that claim and noted her counsel never formally requested a separate trial (Guavaberry; VINO). Kearney also addressed obstruction charges against Martinez tied to the FBI’s June 2024 seizure of his devices, pointing to recorded calls about destroying phones and creating new accounts and highlighting Martinez’s instruction to “burn the phone.” The judge found evidence — including a promissory note dated Aug. 15, 2023, documents, recordings, invoices and bank records — corroborated Whitaker’s testimony and supported jury findings of bribery, money laundering and obstruction (VINO; Guavaberry).
In his memorandum Kearney sharply rebuked the defendants’ conduct, writing that “the adduced evidence overwhelmingly confirmed the officials’ disregard for the rule of law” and concluding the officials “sold the public trust,” language reflected in the court record (VINO; Guavaberry).
Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9 and O’Neal on June 11; both are expected to appeal after sentencing, and will have roughly two weeks after their hearings to indicate any intent to challenge the convictions (Guavaberry; VINO). The rulings close another chapter in a long investigation into how public contracts were awarded and monitored in the territory, and leave the focus now on sentencing and any subsequent appeals by the former officials.
Primary source: VINO