ST. CROIX — A federal judge on Tuesday denied former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal’s renewed request to remain free while appealing her convictions, finding she failed to justify further delaying her prison sentence after her attorney conceded key issues during oral argument, according to a court order.
District Judge Mark Kearney noted that O’Neal’s motion sought to delay her reporting date based on a challenge to only one of her four convictions, while her honest services wire fraud and money laundering convictions independently carried concurrent seven-year prison terms.
In a written order issued hours after an expedited virtual hearing, Kearney found O’Neal “has not demonstrated grounds to further delay Congress’s mandate of incarceration following conviction,” noting that defense counsel conceded key issues during the hearing, including offering “no basis to question the jury’s finding of guilt on honest services wire fraud and money laundering” convictions carrying concurrent seven-year prison terms.
The ruling leaves O’Neal’s scheduled Wednesday self-surrender date unchanged.
The hearing centered on O’Neal’s motion for release pending appeal, which argued she should remain on home detention while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit considers her appeal because it raises four substantial legal questions.
Much of Tuesday’s argument focused on whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in McDonnell v. United States, which narrowed the definition of an “official act” required to prove federal bribery, applies to the federal bribery statute in the Title 18, Section 666 of the U.S. Code, under which O’Neal was convicted.
Attorney Carl Williams, representing O’Neal, argued the issue presents a substantial question of law warranting release pending appeal, contending the Third Circuit has not decided whether McDonnell’s “official act” requirement applies to Section 666.
Kearney repeatedly questioned Williams about the defense’s assertion that federal appellate courts are divided on whether McDonnell applies to Section 666, an issue Williams argued presents a substantial question for appeal.
“You’ve spun us around for a couple days looking for the circuit split,” Kearney told Williams. “Today is the day ... tell us what it is you’re talking about.”
Williams acknowledged he could not identify additional authority supporting that claim during the hearing.
“At this juncture and on this call, I cannot be any more specific with the court than I was in writing,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandre Dempsey argued the defense’s position lacked legal support, pointing to a March decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and contending that every federal appellate court to consider the issue has concluded that McDonnell does not impose an “official act” requirement under Section 666.
Dempsey further argued that even if the bribery conviction were ultimately overturned on appeal, O’Neal’s convictions for honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering would remain intact because they rest on independent legal grounds.
“Honest services wire fraud is a fully independent statute that the defendant was convicted of,” Dempsey argued.
Kearney also questioned how the defense could import the definition of an “official act” from Title 18, Section 201 into Section 666 when Congress expressly limited Section 201’s definitions to that statute.
O’Neal’s renewed motion, filed Saturday, asked Kearney to amend his previous orders and release her pending appeal under the federal bail statute. Alternatively, the motion sought a stay of her Wednesday self-surrender while the court considered the request and any subsequent application to the Third Circuit.
The filing was submitted after Kearney rejected an earlier emergency motion on procedural grounds, finding it failed to comply with court rules governing formatting, consultation with opposing counsel, and identification of where the appellate issues had been preserved during trial.
READ MORE: O’Neal seeks bail, asks not to surrender pending consideration; judge denies on procedural issues
In the renewed motion, which Williams said complied with the court’s procedural requirements, Williams argued O’Neal was not a flight risk or a danger to the community and that her appeal raised four substantial legal questions, including whether McDonnell applied to Section 666, whether prosecutors proved the corrupt intent required under the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Snyder v. United States, whether the government constructively amended the indictment during trial, and whether the evidence was sufficient to support one of the honest services wire fraud convictions.
O’Neal was convicted last December of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of honest services wire fraud. On June 11, Kearney sentenced her to seven years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered her to pay a $50,000 fine, $34,345.39 in restitution jointly and severally with former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez, a $400 special assessment and a forfeiture judgment of $17,730.
