Former VIPD Commissioner Ray Martinez arrives at V.I. District Court in St. Thomas on January 10, 2025, for his arraignment hearing. Photo Credit: ERNICE GILBERT, V.I. CONSORTIUM.
The court has approved travel for former V.I. Police Department Commissioner Ray Martinez as he awaits his upcoming trial on charges of fraud and bribery.
Counsel for Mr. Martinez indicated that his client wished to visit a friend in Maryland who is currently grappling with “serious medical issues.” Neither prosecutors nor the probation office objected, and the request was duly granted for the proposed weekend out of the territory.
Mr. Martinez is scheduled to return on August 18, the same day as the next status hearing in the criminal case against him. Previously scheduled for early September, on Tuesday presiding U.S. Magistrate Alan Teague ordered the date brought forward by two weeks.
Recently, Mr. Martinez was brought back into the spotlight by the surprising information that he was the one who may have sparked the FBI investigation that ultimately resulted in his arrest.
The disclosure came in the trial last week that resulted in convictions for former Sports, Parks, and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White and Benjamin Hendricks. Department of Justice co-operating witness David Whitaker testified that it was Mr. Martinez who initially ordered that covert electronic surveillance devices be planted in several government offices.
Once the non-activated devices were “discovered”, Mr. Whitaker billed the government over $120,000 to remove them. Amidst the resulting public furore, Mr. Martinez contacted the FBI. Once investigators traced the purchase of the devices back to Mr. Whitaker, he confessed and agreed to co-operate with authorities, detailing other criminal activity involving several high-ranking government officials Mr. White, Mr. Martinez, and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O'Neal, who is being tried alongside Martinez for her alleged involvement in a corruption and bribery scheme.
That trial is scheduled to begin on December 3.
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