ST. CROIX — The judge in the first Medicaid fraud trial of Virgin Islands Department of Human Services employees warned attorneys Monday that the case could take five weeks if they cannot agree on basic documents, after a day of laptop trouble, a removed juror, and defense objections that kept the prosecution from getting an exhibit admitted.
Doenyka Lewis, an eligibility specialist, and acting supervisor Shanoya Hendrickson, both employees of the department’s Medical Assistance Program, went on trial in Superior Court before Judge Ernest Morris Jr. Hendrickson's mother, Karen Blyden, was originally scheduled to be tried with them but signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in late October.
Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Ostrem told Morris that neither his laptop nor his co-counsel’s could connect to the court’s system to show exhibits. Morris said Ostrem should have met with the court’s information technology staff beforehand and told him he would have to do it “old school.” The court took a 30-minute recess so the prosecution could print copies of its exhibits.
Morris also removed a juror, a sole proprietor who was working and did not know when he would make it to court and replaced him with an alternate. The judge gave the juror a verbal warning and told him he must remain on jury call for the rest of the jury cycle.
Ostrem told jurors during opening statements that Hendrickson made too much money to qualify for Medicaid but knew how to manipulate the system because she worked in the Medicaid office. He said she moved her four children to her mother’s account even though they still lived with her and she claimed them on her taxes, and that she went to Lewis to process the paperwork.
Attorney Mike Haas, who represents Lewis, said his client did her job as an ineligibility specialist, arguing the case has reasonable doubt from start to finish. He said Lewis did what her office always did, and that breaking policy is not a crime. He said the prosecution will ask the jury to find that Lewis “should have known.” He said, however, that charges require proof that Lewis knew and acted with criminal intent, arguing that suspicion is not proof.
Attorney Renee Dowling, who represents Hendrickson, said Hendrickson and her children once qualified for Medicaid but she lost eligibility after a promotion. Dowling said COVID-19 public health emergency rules barred dropping anyone from Medicaid, regardless of income, from March 2020 to June 30, 2023, so Hendrickson was entitled to the coverage she received.
Kevin Dennin, director of the department’s Program Integrity Unit, was the first witness. Defense attorneys repeatedly objected as Ostrem tried to admit an exhibit through him, citing lack of foundation, lack of authenticity, leading questions, and hearsay. After two sidebars, Morris sent the jury out and said the trial would take five weeks if the attorneys could not agree on basic documents. Ostrem finished without getting the document admitted.
On cross-examination, Dennin testified that he referred two people for investigation after finding an appearance of fraud, and that Lewis was not one of them.
Beverly Joseph, the department’s Medicaid director of operations, testified that Hendrickson was denied eligibility when she recertified in June 2023 and that Lewis processed the notice of decision. Questioned by both defense attorneys, Joseph said a worker cannot deny or grant eligibility; the worker enters information into the system, the system determines eligibility, and the supervisor approves it.
Aisha Perinon, an eligibililty specialist in the Medicaid office, testified as a witness for the prosecution. Before she took the stand, Haas told the court that she admitted in multiple interviews to conduct equal to and surpassing the alleged conduct of the co-defendants. He raised a Fifth Amendment concern, but Ostrem told the court that Haas’ assertions were not in evidence and that Perinon agreed to testify of her own volition. The judge questioned her to ensure she knew her rights, and that she could be prosecuted if she admitted to any crime. She elected to move forward with her testimony.
Perinon testified that Hendrickson was her acting supervisor who reviewed her case. She said Hendrickson told her she could write a letter to transfer her children to her mother’s Medicaid account. Perinon said she had her mother resubmit an application that Hendrickson processed, and that her children were found eligible.
When questioned by Haas, Perinon said she did not know it was against policy to transfer her children to her mother’s account because it was common practice in the office. When Haas asked her about an interview she gave investigators from the Virgin Islands Department of Justice, Perinon said she did not recall saying that Lewis did not do anything wrong. Haas asked the court if he could play the interview tape, but the time was approaching 5 p.m. so Morris adjourned for the day.
Blyden, the co-defendant who accepted a plea agreement, agreed to plead guilty to one count of fraudulent claims upon the government, according to the plea agreement dated October 29. She admitted that from about July 2023 to October 2024 she listed her daughter’s children as members of her household, resulting in $7,364.80 in Medicaid claims paid. The agreement states Hendrickson signed a letter on July 26, 2023, giving her mother permission to apply for benefits for her four children, and that the children lived with their mother.
Prosecutors recommend two years of probation with proceedings deferred, and a one-year suspended sentence if she does not complete the terms. Blyden must repay $7,364.80, complete 150 hours of community service and 16 hours of financial literacy and theft prevention courses and may not work for the Virgin Islands government during probation. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss her remaining counts and not to subpoena her to testify against Hendrickson.
Lewis and Hendrickson are among 11 defendants, six DHS employees and five of their relatives or associates, arrested in January. Prosecutors allege the defendants misused government computer systems to alter or override eligibility safeguards, resulting in the unlawful payment of about $309,000 in Medicaid funds. The cases were split into five trials running through April 2027.
Lewis is a defendant in three of them, over Haas’ objection. Her second trial is set for December 7, with Medical Assistance Program employee Shantenysha Victor and Victor’s husband, Akim Davis. Her third is set for February 1, 2027, with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program employee Clarissa Nunez and Nunez’s mother, Carmen Saldana-Nunez.
SNAP employee Lisa Minelli Montanez and Shane Gaston, who has a child with Montanez, are set for trial March 15, 2027. Medical Assistance Program employee Kenera Frederick and her mother, Sharon Henry, are set for trial April 19, 2027.
All the defendants are charged with Medicaid fraud, accessing a computer for fraudulent purposes, and fraudulent claims against the government. Lewis, Victor, Nunez, Montanez, and Frederick are also charged with embezzlement. Medicaid fraud and accessing a computer for fraudulent purposes each carry a maximum of five years in prison, and embezzlement carries a maximum of 10 years.
