ST. CROIX — As the federal corruption trial of former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal continues in District Court on St. Thomas, the jury heard multiple recorded phone calls between the prosecution’s key witness David Whitaker and Martinez, where the topic of O’Neal’s ongoing housing issues were brought up repeatedly.
In a phone call recorded on November 21, 2023, Martinez and Whitaker discussed how stressed O’Neal appeared because she had not yet found a new place to live. On this call, Whitaker said he may start sending O’Neal money to help her.
And on January 16, 2024, Martinez and Whitaker again discussed O’Neal’s housing issues and the impact it was apparently having on her. In that recorded call, Whitaker told Martinez he thought they should sit down with O’Neal to understand exactly what she needed, adding that she seemed distracted. Martinez responded that O’Neal had a “lot to contend with,” citing getting evicted, work, and her love life as points of stress.
The conversation seemingly stems from a two-year old court case where O’Neal’s landlord moved to evict her.
O’Neal has been living in a Mahogany Run condo unit since 2019 as a month-to-month tenant paying $1,900 a month, without a written lease. The condominium belonged to Domino Oil Co. Inc., which was then headed by Cesar Cortes.
After Cortes suffered a brain aneurysm, his wife, Flores Santos Cortes, assumed control of Domino Oil in June 2023. On October 17, 2023, the company served O’Neal with a Notice to Quit, directing her to vacate the unit. She refused, asserting that she held a colorable claim to title through an alleged oral agreement with Cortes — meaning she believed she had enough of a legitimate ownership stake to block an eviction.
Domino Oil, represented by attorneys Andrew Capdeville and Dana Hrelic, filed an eviction complaint on December 4, 2023. Santos Cortes testified during a hearing on January 11, 2024 that she was not aware of any agreement — written or oral — by her husband to sell the condo unit to O’Neal.
O’Neal, represented by attorney Yohana Manning, argued that the eviction should be dismissed because she had a colorable claim to title. She testified that Cortes orally agreed to sell her the unit for $275,000, with a $75,000 down payment and the balance due within six months. She said she invested in minor improvements to the unit over the years, purchasing appliances, repairing a closet door, and adding a storm shutter to the front door. She said she wanted an agreement in writing and informed her attorney to draft a contract and to continue negotiations with Domino Oil on her behalf. She continued testifying about the ongoing negotiations, stating that she was still in the process of trying to reach an agreement with the company.
Capdeville said O’Neal testified that the property was for sale at $375,000. However, he said he believed the price was $425,000. The property was subsequently sold for $400,000.
On January 11, 2024, Magistrate Judge Simone VanHolten-Turnbull ruled that Domino Oil had proven its eviction case by a preponderance of the evidence. Considering the evidence and testimony presented, the court did not believe that O’Neal made improvements because of the oral agreement. Instead, the court found the minor improvements were consistent with those of someone who has rented the same unit for multiple years and made improvements which benefited O’Neal’s personal use of the premises, not Domino Oil. The court ordered O’Neal to vacate by January 31, 2024, and required her to post a $25,000 appeal bond if she wanted to challenge the ruling.
O’Neal filed her notice of appeal on January 30, 2024 and Manning’s office later submitted the required bond. She argued the Magistrate Division erred when it denied her motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, when it denied her motion to continue to engage in discovery, when it excluded the testimony of a witness, Wilbert Smith, in violation of the Virgin Islands Rules of Evidence, and when it accepted the testimony of Santos Cortes without evidence of her authority to represent Domino Oil.
Domino Oil argued that there was no agreement for the sale and therefore no colorable claim to title, that Santos Cortes was authorized to speak on behalf of the company as she assumed the role of president in June 2023 when Cortes became medically incapacitated, that the court properly disallowed Smith’s testimony, and that the court did not abuse its discretion to credit and accept the testimony of the witnesses before it.
On April 25, 2024, Superior Court Judge Sigrid Tejo affirmed the eviction ruling.
O’Neal appealed again on April 29, 2024, bringing the case to the Virgin Islands Supreme Court. However, the appeal ended on July 9, 2024 when O’Neal moved to dismiss the case.
O’Neal’s motion to dismiss came after she resigned as OMB director in June 2024. Governor Albert Bryan Jr. announced on June 17, 2024 that he had asked her to resign amid the federal investigation that was ongoing at the time.
In O’Neal’s motion to dismiss, Manning told the court he learned that O’Neal vacated the property on June 30, 2024 and surrendered the key to Capdeville on July 5, 2024. He noted that even if she were to win the appeal, Virgin Islands precedent prevents courts from restoring possession to a party who voluntarily gives it up. On July 11, 2024, Chief Justice Rhys Hodge dismissed the appeal.
With the appeals resolved, Domino Oil sought compensation for its legal expenses. On September 11, 2024, the company filed a motion requesting $28,178 in attorneys’ fees, asserting it had prevailed at every judicial level.
On October 10, 2024, O’Neal opposed the request, arguing the award was discretionary and claiming Domino Oil was not the true prevailing party. She asserted she only vacated the unit because the governor required her resignation from government service, leaving her unable to pay rent or secure financing to complete the alleged purchase.
Domino Oil replied to O’Neal’s opposition, and on October 31, 2024, the Superior Court found an award of attorney’s fees and cost was appropriate because Domino Oil was the prevailing party, and the company’s case was not a frivolous personal injury action. The court awarded a total of $21,015, which was $7,163 less than requested and included $15,470 to Hrelic and $4,631 to Capdeville, along with $914 in costs to Capdeville’s firm.
Domino Oil filed its final request on December 3, 2024, seeking to have the $25,000 appeal bond released to distribute the funds in accordance with the court’s judgment. On March 10, Tejo ordered the Cashier’s Office to disburse the funds, covering attorneys’ fees and costs and returning the remaining $3,985 to O’Neal’s attorney.
The prosecution alleges Martinez and O’Neal — charged with bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy — accepted bribes from Whitaker, the former owner of Mon Ethos Pro Support.
Martinez is accused of accepting at least $110,358 in bribes from Whitaker, some of which were allegedly paid by inflated invoices to cover work Mon Ethos completed for the Virgin Islands Police Department. Whitaker allegedly bribed Martinez to ensure his outstanding invoices to the VIPD were approved and paid. O’Neal, who allegedly used her position as OMB director to expedite payment of an inflated invoice, is accused of accepting at least $17,730 in bribes.
The trial continues on Monday. Follow WTJX’s YouTube channel and Facebook page in the evening for a recap of the court proceedings with “Trial Watch,” hosted by WTJX’s contributing reporter, Isabelle Teare.
