SAN JUAN — Former Virgin Islands Port Authority Executive Director Carlton Dowe’s defense team told a federal judge Friday that he may challenge the venue of his bank fraud case rather than negotiate a plea, as the judge granted the defense a fourth extension to review discovery.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Christine Amy told District Judge Pedro Delgado-Hernandez during a status conference at District Court in San Juan, Puerto Rico that the government had turned over all discovery and remained amenable to plea negotiations but had not yet received a response from the defense.
Jennie Mariel Espada, local counsel for Dowe’s lead attorney, Joseph DiRuzzo III, said DiRuzzo has not yet affirmatively indicated whether he wants to negotiate a plea because he is still reviewing discovery. Asked about a plea, Espada said, “I wouldn’t say that possibility is not on the table.” Rather than request a trial date, she asked the judge for a motions deadline, saying she believed Dowe would challenge the case’s venue, though she said she hadn’t been able to “communicate very effectively” with DiRuzzo on specifics.
Delgado-Hernandez declined to set a motions deadline and instead scheduled another status conference, telling Espada to speak with DiRuzzo and come prepared to tell the court his plans. Espada said she had just heard from DiRuzzo, who asked for more time to review discovery, and told the judge the defense would be ready by the next conference.
The case has now been delayed four times over discovery review. First due to the sheer volume of material, about one terabyte, then problems downloading some 40,000 documents from a jump drive as well as a hard drive containing the discovery getting damaged in shipping to DiRuzzo in Florida, requiring the government to reproduce the material.
READ MORE: Carlton Dowe's lawyers get 2nd extension to review 40,000 documents before deciding on plea or trial
Dowe, who did not attend Friday’s hearing, is charged with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of making false statements on loan applications, and one count of aggravated identity theft. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege he submitted fraudulent loan applications to Banco Popular de Puerto Rico between 2021 and 2023, including inflated income claims backed by fake lease agreements, to refinance his mortgages. Dowe stepped down as VIPA’s executive director effective April 10, having announced his retirement in March following the federal indictment.
