ST. CROIX — The District Court of the Virgin Islands has reassigned two pending fraud cases to visiting District Judge Mark Kearney following the expiration of Senior District Judge Wilma Lewis’ temporary assignment to active judicial service.
The cases involve a $4.4 million contract for storage of wood needed to rebuild hurricane-damaged homes and the alleged theft of about $500,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program.
On Feb. 14, 2025, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recalled Lewis to perform judicial duties in the Virgin Islands for a yearlong period that concluded Monday.
Under federal court procedures, judges who have taken senior status may be recalled to active service to help manage caseload demands.
With the expiration of Lewis’ recall assignment, the court ordered that all pending cases previously assigned to her be reassigned to Chief Judge Robert Molloy. Two of those cases involving fraud were subsequently reassigned to Kearney.
In the wood storage case, Davidson Charlemagne and his wife, Sasha Charlemagne, are accused of stealing disaster relief program funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The PPP fraud case involves Morris Anselmi and Kimberly McCollum, co-owners of Island Services Group LLC, who are accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.
While the two cases are separate, ISG is connected to the wood storage case. Darin Richardson, former chief operating officer of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority, who was convicted in March on multiple counts including bank fraud, is also connected to the wood storage case. Richardson stood trial alone after his case was severed from the Charlemagnes’ case.
READ MORE: Darin Richardson found guilty on all five counts including fraud after jury deliberates for one day
The VIHFA awarded the wood storage contract to ISG. Davidson Charlemagne, who owns D&S Trucking, allegedly proposed for ISG to submit a bid to manage the wood, with D&S Trucking serving as the subcontractor.
The Charlemagnes are both charged with money laundering conspiracy and making false claims upon the United States. Davidson Charlemagne is also charged with fraud concerning programs receiving federal funds and wire fraud. The Charlemagnes were initially arraigned on June 20, 2024. They subsequently pleaded not guilty on October 25, 2024 to new charges of false claims connected to timesheets filled out for the management of the lumber.
READ MORE: Charlemagnes arraigned on new charges of false claims connected to timesheets in woodpile fraud case
Anselmi and McCollum are both charged with wire fraud conspiracy and making false statements to the SBA and a financial institution. McCollum is also charged with wire fraud and mail fraud. They allegedly siphoned a portion of the loan proceeds into McCollum’s personal bank account and submitted applications to the SBA for forgiveness of the loans, falsely claiming the funds had been used for authorized purposes. Attorneys for Anselmi and McCollum indicated during a calendar call on December 16, 2025 that the parties were close to reaching a plea agreement.
READ MORE: Attorneys close to plea deal in Morris Anselmi, Kimberly McCollum fraud case involving PPP loans
Considering ISG’s involvement in the wood storage contract, Anselmi was extended immunity from prosecution alongside the Charlemagnes in that case in exchange for his testimony as a government witness. Federal prosecutors, however, may expand his immunity agreement to include his own PPP fraud case. Doing so would allow his stalled deposition to resume in the case against the Charlemagnes.
READ MORE: Government may broaden Anselmi’s immunity agreement to resume witness testimony in Charlemagne case
After being reassigned the PPP fraud case, Kearney submitted an order today to hold a telephonic status conference with all counsel to address final scheduling for resolving the matter on Wednesday.
As the two fraud cases proceed, Richardson awaits sentencing after his case was tried before Lewis.
Richardson was scheduled to be sentenced on September 30, 2025. However, his attorney, Darren John-Baptiste, filed an emergency motion on September 18, 2025 for a continuance of 120 days after a fire destroyed his office eight days earlier. His sentencing was initially continued to January 30. It was subsequently continued without a new date, pending further order of the court.
READ MORE: Richardson sentencing delayed by VI District Court judge while visiting judge on schedule with cases
Now that the Charlemagnes’ case has been reassigned to Kearney, he is also going to handle Richardson’s sentencing. Kearney submitted an order today to hold a telephone conference on the Richardson matter on Tuesday to address distinct items, and to set a date certain for sentencing in March.
Kearney recently presided over two high-profile corruption trials involving three former government officials and a government contractor that began after Richardson’s guilty verdict.
He presided over the trial of former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal. They were both found guilty on December 11, 2025 of honest services wire fraud, federal program bribery, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Martinez was also convicted of obstruction of justice.
Kearney set Martinez’s sentencing for June 9 and O’Neal’s for June 11. While O’Neal was allowed to remain released on her own recognizance pending sentencing, Martinez self-surrendered today to the U.S. Marshals Service on St. Thomas.
READ MORE: Ex-Police Commissioner Ray Martinez surrenders to authorities ahead of sentencing in bribery case
Kearney also presided over the trial of former Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White and his co-defendant, government contractor Benjamin Hendricks, owner of A Clean Environment USVI LLC. They were both found guilty on July 25, 2025 of honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds after a five-day jury trial.
On January 22, Kearney sentenced White to five years in prison, and Hendricks to five years and eight months in prison. Both were also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
