ST. CROIX — A former contractor for the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission convicted in a conspiracy to steal government funds was released from the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility on St. Croix today after serving just over three years in prison.
Stephanie Barnes was charged in 2019 along with former CCC Chair Violet Anne Golden in a 30-count indictment alleging conspiracy to embezzle government funds, money laundering, and making fraudulent claims upon the government.
A jury found Barnes guilty on December 23, 2021 of one federal crime — conspiracy to commit theft from programs receiving government funds. She was also found guilty of two local crimes — receipt of government property and filing a false tax return. She received three concurrent sentences totaling three years and eight months in prison.
Now that Barnes is out of prison, she will be on supervised release for three years. The conditions of her release require her to pay $247,489.93 in restitution to the Casino Control Commission, making monthly payments. She was also fined $10,000 in addition to a $300 special assessment.
Barnes, who was accused of receiving more than $450,000 in CCC funds from 2015 to 2018, filed an appeal on October 28, 2024 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She requested the reversal of her convictions on all counts or, in the alternative, that her federal conviction be vacated due to jury instructional error and the sentence vacated due to procedural unreasonableness.
In her appeal, submitted by attorney Kendys Pimentel-Soto, Barnes noted the District Court instructed the jury that the government had to prove that Golden “was an agent of the government of the Virgin Islands,” “that in the one-year period, the government of the Virgin Islands received federal benefits in excess of $10,000,” and “that the property embezzled was owned by or was in the care, custody or control of the government of the Virgin Islands,” or that the VI government had control over and responsibility for the property at the time of Barnes’ action. She also noted that the jury was told it may add up the value of property obtained from the series of acts by Barnes and Golden to reach $5,000 so long as those acts occur within the same one-year period, but the jury was not instructed that the $10,000 in federal benefits must be found within that same one-year period.
Barnes argued that the government failed to prove that an “agent” of the VI government misapplied property under the care or control of the VI government or that the VI government received more than $10,000 in federal benefits. She argued that the District Court lacked jurisdiction from the inception over the charged federal offense and thus no concurrent jurisdiction ever existed over local felonies. She argued it was plain error to not instruct the jury that the more than $10,000 in federal benefits and the threshold of $5,000 property value must have been unanimously found within the same one-year period. She argued the sentence was procedurally unreasonable due to miscalculation of the “loss.”
As Barnes appeals her convictions, the District Court granted an emergency motion on January 14 submitted by the U.S. government to obtain copies of exhibits admitted during Barnes’ trial to aid the government during the appeal process. The government, in its motion, wrote that it has been unable to locate copies of certain exhibits, noting the prosecutors who tried the case are no longer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Golden, a former senator of the 23rd Legislature, was a 10-year CCC member serving as chair at the time of her arrest. She pleaded guilty to the federal crime of theft from programs receiving federal government funds and the local crime of failing to file an income tax return. She admitted to diverting nearly $300,000 in Casino Control Commission funds for her own personal benefit and the benefit of others through bank wires, writing CCC checks, and using CCC credit cards. She was sentenced on August 13, 2020 to two years in prison. She testified as a government witness during Barnes’ trial. After serving her prison sentence, she was placed on supervised release for three years. She was required to pay $295,503 in restitution to the Casino Control Commission in addition to a $100 assessment.
