Former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez.
Former Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez has filed notice of his intent to appeal the 10-year sentence handed down last week following his conviction on honest services wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice charges.
Mr. Martinez announced the appeal Monday through a one-page notice filed in District Court. Apart from that filing, the appeal had not yet appeared on the public docket of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Once docketed, the matter will be scheduled for review by appellate judges.
The notice comes days after Mr. Martinez appeared before District Court Judge Mark Kearney for sentencing. During last Tuesday's hearing, the former police commissioner cried before the court and apologized to his family, the VIPD fraternity and the people of the territory. He asked the court for mercy, saying the case had left his family shattered.
Judge Kearney imposed a 120-month sentence, a term well above what the defense had sought but far below the 24 years requested by federal prosecutors. The judge said the sentence accounted for both Mr. Martinez’s long record of public service and the seriousness of a senior public official using his position in a scheme that damaged public trust.
The case presented to jurors last December centered on allegations that Mr. Martinez exchanged his influence, along with that of co-defendant Jenifer O’Neal, the former Office of Management and Budget director, for financial and personal gain.
Prosecutors said businessman turned FBI informant David Whitaker provided Mr. Martinez with nearly $100,000 in benefits while the then-police commissioner approved and advanced a $1.48 million contract for Mr. Whitaker’s company.
Jurors accepted the government’s evidence that the bribes included first-class trips, luxury hotel suites, steak dinners, gambling funds, home rent payments and payments toward his children’s school tuition. At least some of the inducements were paid for using ARPA funds through Mon Ethos accounts.
During sentencing, Judge Kearney emphasized that the victims of Mr. Martinez’s public corruption included the residents of the Virgin Islands. Public resources meant to serve the territory, the court noted, were instead funneled to the former commissioner as part of the corrupt arrangement involving Mr. Martinez, Ms. O’Neal and Mr. Whitaker.
Mr. Martinez’s appeal will now proceed once the matter is formally entered on the Third Circuit’s public docket.
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