ST. CROIX — Attorney General Gordon Rhea has issued a formal legal opinion concluding that Brett “Mac” McClafferty is ineligible to run for a seat in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, citing a criminal record that includes 12 disqualifying convictions in Ohio courts, including felonies and misdemeanors.
The opinion, obtained by WTJX, addressed to Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes, was in response to an April 21 inquiry from the Elections System about McClafferty’s eligibility. McClafferty had picked up a nomination package on April 14 to qualify as a candidate for the Senate.
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According to the opinion, records reviewed by the Department of Justice show that McClafferty was convicted of 10 felonies and five misdemeanors in Ohio courts between 2015 and 2019. Of those 15 total convictions, Rhea determined at least 12 (eight felonies and four misdemeanors) are disqualifying under the Virgin Islands’ governing law — either because they are felonies punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, or because they involve fraud and therefore constitute crimes of moral turpitude. The opinion also flagged two additional April 2018 theft convictions (one felony and one misdemeanor) as potentially disqualifying, noting they may constitute crimes of moral turpitude upon further investigation.
The felony convictions include identity fraud (two counts), forgery (two counts), grand theft (two counts), passing bad checks (two counts), theft, and possession of cocaine, spread across five Ohio counties — Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage, Geauga, and Trumbull. The misdemeanor convictions include passing bad checks, petty theft, and theft (three counts). The opinion notes that no record indicates McClafferty has been pardoned for any of these convictions.
Several of the convictions were appealed, but the attorney general found that none of the appeals vacated the underlying convictions.
Rhea noted that in relevant part, the Section 6(b) of the Revised Organic Act provides that “no person shall be eligible to be a member of the legislature… who has been convicted of a felony or of a crime involving moral turpitude and has not received a pardon restoring his civil rights.”
Prior to the opinion’s release, a stateside attorney representing McClafferty, Bradley Lehman, who is not barred in the Virgin Islands, had sent Fawkes a letter on April 16 arguing that his client remained eligible despite his criminal history. The letter offered four arguments: that McClafferty’s convictions did not involve moral turpitude; that no pardon was necessary under Ohio law; that only crimes committed in the Virgin Islands should count as disqualifying; and that the Revised Organic Act’s prohibition was unconstitutional.
The attorney general rejected all four arguments.
On the question of moral turpitude, the opinion concluded that several of McClafferty’s convictions — including forgery, identity fraud, passing bad checks, and theft by deception — involve fraudulent intent as either an explicit or implicit element of the offense, bringing them squarely within the definition of crimes of moral turpitude as interpreted by the Virgin Islands Supreme Court.
On the pardon question, the opinion stated that the plain language of Section 6(b) requires “a pardon restoring his civil rights” before an otherwise ineligible person can qualify, and that Ohio’s statute automatically restoring certain rights upon completion of a sentence does not satisfy that requirement.
On the geographic argument — that only Virgin Islands convictions should disqualify a candidate — the opinion found no such limitation in the text of the Revised Organic Act.
“There is no reason to believe that Congress intended to permit felons and those otherwise convicted of crimes of moral turpitude to serve in the Virgin Islands Legislature so long as those convictions arose from criminal conduct in other parts of the United States,” the opinion stated.
Finally, the opinion dismissed the constitutional challenge as “meritless,” noting that the Revised Organic Act remains the law unless altered by Congress or overturned by the courts.
McClafferty’s road to become an elected official began with online announcements shortly after he was arrested on February 21 for financial misconduct. On March 13, WTJX wrote an article stating that the Revised Organic Act of 1954 bars convicted felons who have not obtained a pardon from eligibility to run for the Legislature of the Virgin Islands and that unless McClafferty obtains a pardon from the governor of Ohio, he appears to be ineligible to run for office.
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That same date, McClafferty posted on Facebook that he meets all the qualifications and “if anybody tries to stop this candidacy, we will see you in federal court.” On April 2, he submitted his application to become a registered voter in the Virgin Islands. On April 10, he posted his Virgin Islands voter registration on Facebook. After receiving the April 16 letter from McClafferty’s attorney asserting his eligibility, Fawkes wrote the AG requesting an opinion on April 21. Two days later, McClafferty wrote Fawkes stating that he was “troubled” that his qualifications for the Legislature were referred to the AG prior to him filing a petition for said office. In a May 3 letter to Fawkes, McClafferty wrote that he is withdrawing his name as a potential candidate for the 37th Legislature, while holding steadfast that he is “more than qualified to seek a seat in the 37th Legislature.” In that same letter he announced to the supervisor of elections his intent to run for delegate to Congress. A letter of intent to the Elections System is not a part of the ballot process. As of close of business today, McClafferty has not filed a petition for either office. All candidates have until 6 p.m. to file on Tuesday.
Although McClafferty is a convicted felon, he is eligible to run for the delegate to Congress seat. Eligible candidates for the office of delegate to Congress as outlined in Title 48 of the United States Code as well as in the House Qualifications Clause set forth in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution must meet three requirements. Those requirements include the candidate being at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and an inhabitant of the state or territory in which they were elected.
McClafferty’s candidacy comes amid his own ongoing legal troubles in the territory.
A private equity investor, McClafferty relocated to St. Thomas after serving his sentences in Ohio. Since moving to St. Thomas, he has been involved in multiple civil lawsuits alleging financial misconduct and was most recently arrested earlier this year in connection with an alleged $888,500 fraud scheme involving counterfeit checks and returned bank drafts. He was charged with grand larceny, passing or possession of forged bills, obtaining money by false pretenses, making and passing fictitious bills, and drawing and delivering worthless checks.
According to the Virgin Islands Police Department, the Economic Crime Unit launched an investigation in June 2024 after Banco Popular de Puerto Rico reported suspicious activity. Investigators said McClafferty deposited counterfeit or fraudulent checks drawn on entities in the British Virgin Islands and issued bank drafts from a Discover account that were later returned because of stop-payment requests or insufficient funds. Police said at least 12 transactions totaling about $888,500 were identified, with funds allegedly withdrawn or transferred to third parties before the instruments were returned unpaid. Banco Popular reported confirmed losses exceeding $80,000.
Superior Court Magistrate Judge Julie Smith Todman issued an arrest warrant December 30, 2025. Officers executed the warrant at McClafferty’s residence in the St. Joseph and Rosendahl area of St. Thomas with assistance from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service. McClafferty posted bail and was released from custody on February 23.
McClafferty has pushed back against those allegations.
On March 4, McClafferty and Social Hospitality Group Inc., which owns and operates St. Thomas Social, filed a civil lawsuit in Superior Court against Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and its parent company, Popular Inc. The complaint alleges negligence, defamation, abuse of process, false arrest and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to the lawsuit, the dispute stems from checks tied to a proposed “medical symposium” event that was supposed to take place at McClafferty’s restaurant, St. Thomas Social. The lawsuit claims the bank accepted deposits and initially made funds available before later returning the checks and filing what the complaint describes as an inaccurate police report accusing McClafferty of fraud. The plaintiffs allege the bank failed to properly investigate the transactions and provided incorrect information to law enforcement, which they say led to McClafferty’s arrest. The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
