ST. CROIX — Police Commissioner Ray Martinez has officially resigned upon request from Governor Albert Bryan Jr. after being implicated in an ongoing federal investigation, Government House confirmed today.
Martinez tendered his resignation on Tuesday, according to Richard Motta Jr., Government House communications director.
Motta previously confirmed via text message with WTJX on Sunday that the governor had already accepted Martinez’s resignation.
READ MORE: “Police Commissioner Ray Martinez resigns after being implicated in ongoing federal investigation”
The governor, however, said during a press conference Monday that he had not yet received a resignation letter from Martinez. He named Assistant Police Commissioner Mario Brooks as acting police commissioner at that time.
Motta clarified there was a “miscommunication” over the weekend regarding Martinez’s resignation.
Bryan, during Monday’s press conference, said an ongoing federal investigation led him to request the resignations of Martinez as well as Jenifer O’Neal, who led the Virgin Islands Office of Management and Budget as director since 2019. The governor announced O’Neal’s resignation Monday.
Following O’Neal’s resignation, the governor named Kimika Woods, OMB associate director of Budget Operations, as the agency’s acting director, Motta said Tuesday. He said Woods has served as OMB associate director of Budget Operations for just under two years.
Prior to becoming OMB’s associate director of Budget Operations, Woods served as chief financial officer at the VI Bureau of Internal Revenue from June 2021 to December 2022, Motta said. He said she previously worked as a budget analyst at the VI Housing Finance Authority. He said she was a senior budget analyst with OMB from 2016 to 2020.
