TWO
FORMER VIRGIN ISLANDS COMMISSIONERS AND A LOCAL BUSINESSMAN
INDICTED IN $1.4 MILLION BRIBERY AND KICKBACK SCHEME
WASHINGTON
- A federal grand jury in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, has returned a 12-count
indictment against the former Commissioner of the U.S. Virgin Islands
Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR), the former Commissioner
of the Department of Property and Procurement (DP&P), and a local
businessman, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal
Division and U.S. Attorney Anthony J. Jenkins of the District of the Virgin
Islands announced today.
The
indictment charges former DPNR Commissioner Dean C. Plaskett, 42, and
former DP&P Commissioner Marc A. Biggs, 42, with demanding and accepting
a series of bribes and kickbacks in exchange for awarding approximately
$1.4 million in government contracts and then authorizing over $1 million
in progress payments, despite little or no work having been performed.
Both defendants are charged with conspiracy to violate the federal program
bribery statute and commit honest services mail fraud, as well as multiple
counts of federal program bribery. Plaskett and Biggs are also charged,
along with local businessman Leroy L. Marchena, 66, with multiple counts
of obstructing justice, stemming from their attempts to thwart the joint
federal and local investigation into the underlying bribery and kickback
scheme.
To date,
four individuals, including three other U.S. Virgin Islands government
officials, have pleaded guilty to felony charges as a result of this investigation.
Former DPNR Director of the Division of Environmental Protection Hollis
L. Griffin, former Virgin Islands Fire Service employee Earl E. Brewley,
and Atlanta businessman Esmond J. Modeste have pleaded guilty to conspiring
to violate the federal program bribery statute, honest services mail fraud,
and structuring currency transactions in furtherance of the underlying
bribery and kickback scheme. Griffin was sentenced to four years in prison,
Modeste was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and Brewley was sentenced
to 21 months. The three were also ordered to pay approximately $1.1 million
in restitution. Most recently, former DPNR Director of Permits Brent E.
Blyden pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct the joint federal and
local investigation into the bribery and kickback scheme. He faces a maximum
sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, $125,000 in restitution,
and $20,000 in criminal forfeiture.
According
to court documents, in early 2000, Griffin, Brewley, Modeste, and others
formed a sham business by the name of Elite Technical Services (Elite)
and then used the entity, as well as other companies, to seek and be awarded
at least seven government contracts valued at approximately $1.4 million.
The contracts were authorized and awarded by Plaskett, Biggs, Griffin
and Blyden, and although little or no work was performed, they authorized
progress payments totaling over $1 million to Elite and the other complicit
companies. Once the contract proceeds were negotiated, Modeste, Brewley,
and others kept a portion of the illicit proceeds for themselves and paid
cash bribes and kickbacks totaling between $300,000-$350,000 to at least
four government officials including Plaskett, Biggs, Griffin and Blyden.
When the bribery and kickback scheme became the subject of an investigative
report by the Virgin Island Daily News in January 2005, Plaskett, Marchena,
Blyden, Modeste, Griffin, and others, implemented a scheme to obstruct
any federal or local investigation. According to court papers, the obstruction
of justice scheme continued throughout the joint federal and local criminal
probe and included efforts to create backdated and fictitious documents
designed to cover up the fact that certain contract work was never performed.
Court documents also allege that the defendants corruptly solicited other
persons and businesses to falsely document that work had been performed
under the contracts involved in the bribery and kickback scheme, and made
false declarations to the federal grand jury and to federal and local
law enforcement officials.
If convicted
on all counts, Plaskett faces a maximum of 82 years in prison and a $2
million fine, Biggs faces a maximum of 37 years in prison and a $1.25
million fine, and Marchena faces a maximum of 45 years in prison and a
$750,000 fine. All three defendants also face restitution and criminal
forfeiture in excess of $1 million.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Armando O. Bonilla and
John P. Pearson of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, headed
by Chief William M. Welch II, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney's
Office for the District of the Virgin Islands. The matter continues to
be investigated by a task force comprised of agents from the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation
Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Office of the Inspector General. The Virgin Islands
Office of the Inspector General also assisted in this investigation.
An indictment contains only allegations and defendants are presumed innocent
unless and until proven guilty.
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