ST. CROIX — In the wake of the federal corruption convictions of former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal, Senator Franklin Johnson said the verdict represents a long-awaited moment of accountability for the Virgin Islands.
“Justice have been served for the people of this territory,” he said.
Johnson said he had a gut feeling against supporting Martinez, whose nomination to serve as commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department got unanimously approved by the Legislature on November 18, 2021.
“I didn’t follow my guts,” he said.
After Martinez failed to appear at four previous Senate meetings, Johnson questioned him under subpoena during a hearing on January 31, 2024 about the VIPD’s contract for traffic and security cameras with Mon Ethos Pro Support, a company formerly owned by David Whitaker, who testified against Martinez and O’Neal as a key witness for the prosecution.
This hearing came just 11 days after O’Neal received a text from Whitaker inquiring about the payment status of an invoice that had been inflated by $70,000.
At the time, Johnson said he was already aware of some of the improprieties.
“I asked for a copy of the Mon Ethos contract because I wanted to see if the information I was receiving was true,” he said. “We never received that contract.”
Given the caustic nature of Martinez and Johnson’s exchanges, it was unsurprising to hear O’Neal, Martinez’s co-defendant, ridicule Johnson on a recording played for the jurors during trial.
O’Neal referred to Johnson as “the idiot senator” while speaking with Whitaker about her concern that Martinez was overextending himself at work.
Johnson responded to the dig Thursday night via phone.
“I know I’m going to be here for a while until the good Lord ready for me,” Johnson said. “I work 20 years in a prison. I’m not going to do nothing to take my freedom away.”
Johnson said additional federal investigations and indictments are already pending.
“There’s about seven indictments out there right now that [are] waiting to go forward,” he said, adding the charges include falsifying information and misuse of public funds.
He did not name individuals or provide details, clarifying his knowledge is based on what he has been told and what he inferred from trial testimony.
“If anybody pay attention to that case, there [are] going to be more arrests,” he said. “There’s other people that was involved, and their name was called more than one time in the case for being involved. So, there’s going to be some conspiracy charge. The writing is on the wall. There will be conspiracy charges.”
Isabelle Teare, host of WTJX’s “Trial Watch,” reported that during cross examination, the defense asked Whitaker if he was aware the FBI had recorded more than 7,400 phone calls during his cooperation with the agency, which began in September 2023 and culminated in June 2024. Whitaker said he wasn’t aware of the exact number of recordings, but that he could imagine it was a large number.
Johnson referenced a November 9, 2023 Senate hearing on St. John, during which Martinez and his senior leadership failed to appear despite widespread public concern about rising crime. Martinez had opted instead to attend an “Internet For All: U.S. Virgin Islands Local Coordination Workshop,” co-hosted by the Office of Management and Budget, under O’Neal’s direction, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
During that hearing, Johnson referred to police officers as “cowards.” Johnson emphasized that this characterization of police officers was directed at Martinez — not rank-and-file officers.
“When I made that statement, it was never in regards to the policemen dem who’s on the street doing the best that they can with what they have because none of those policemen comes to the Senate to give testimony,” he said. “It’s always top brass. And I was referring to him.”
Johnson made clear that he took no joy in the verdict but believed it was necessary to restore public trust. For him, the verdict brought closure to concerns he had tried to address from the Senate floor.
“People call me; I answer my phone,” he said. “And I think that’s the plus for me. I listen to people.”
After receiving information, Johnson said he does his own research to find out if the information he receives is factual.
“I couldn’t get the truth to this,” he said about Martinez and the VIPD’s contract with Mon Ethos. “But today, the people has been vindicated.”
Martinez and O’Neal were found guilty on all counts charged against them — honest services wire fraud, federal program bribery, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Martinez was also convicted of obstruction of justice.
