Federal prosecutors charged Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White with wire fraud and accepting a bribe in an alleged attempt to steer a $2.1 million security camera contract to a notorious fraudster in exchange for a $16,000 kickback, according to court records unsealed Friday.
White and Benjamin Goderick Hendricks, owner of the St. Thomas-based environmental consulting firm A Clean Environment, were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury. Separately, former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal were also charged for their alleged illegal dealings with the same convicted con man and sometimes law-enforcement informant David Whitaker.
White resigned Friday, Government House spokesperson Richard Motta confirmed. O’Neal and Martinez resigned after the FBI probe became public in June 2024. All three have pleaded not guilty.
White allegedly used Hendricks as a go-between with Whitaker, establishing his price and accepting a $5,000 first payment for awarding the contract to Whitaker’s tech security firm Mon Ethos Pro Support LLC, according to the indictment.
At least one in-person meeting between the three men took place at the Virgin Islands Police Department’s Mobile Command Center on Jan. 2, 2024, in St. Croix. Direct quotes from the meeting in the indictment have White seemingly acknowledging the illegality of the interaction while allegedly sharing insider information about other bidders on the security camera installation contract.
“I have seen people lose a job, seen people gone to jail over something like this,” the indictment quotes White saying as he displays his phone screen showing competing bids. “I’ve been doing this a while, and I know the less evidence you have, the better you’ll be. So I hope you all got a photographic memory because I want you take a look at this document.”
Whitaker was repeatedly concerned White was asking for too little in the alleged scheme. Hendricks confirmed $16,000 was White’s price. On Jan. 3, 2024, Whitaker allegedly wired Hendricks $5,000 with a note reading “Partial payment for the contract.”
On Jan. 8, 2024, White allegedly met Whitaker in his office and discussed adjusting the bid down to meet a lower bid of $1.8 million from a competing firm. Whitaker recorded the conversation where White asked if Whitaker had “sent that stuff to him.”
Whitaker replied, “I’ve already sent it.”
The three men exchanged text messages about the scope of the work during a Jan. 19 teleconference with the Property and Procurement Department’s Evaluation Committee. As Whitaker spoke to the committee tasked with choosing the camera installation vendor, White allegedly texted, “Make sure you reiterate that cost can be decrease by reducing the number of drops/cameras.”
In further communication between the three on Feb. 5, 2024, Hendricks said he had spoken to a senator about the contract.
Whitaker: “ … they have a budget of 1.6 of 1.5 or something and …”
Hendricks: “Good good good good good good.”
Whitaker: “We’ve gotta figure out how to bring it down.”
Hendricks: “Yeah, I made a phone call to an individual. Actually one of, one of, one of the senators. And he said, ‘Benji, don’t worry about it.’ Uhh, you know so …”
Whitaker: “Hmm, there you go.”
Hendricks: “He said, ‘They’ll get it.’”
The indictment did not stipulate which senator Hendricks was speaking of.
On Feb. 26, 2024, White emailed the Evaluation Committee to say his department had accepted Whitaker’s $1.43 million bid. Two weeks later the Evaluation Committee recommended Mon Ethos receive the Sports, Parks and Recreation security camera contract, according to the indictment.
On April 3, 2024 — 90 days after Whitaker had wired $5,000 to Hendricks — White allegedly deposited $5,000 in his Banco Popular account.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations seized White’s phone in June 2024 and found some text and WhatsApp messages with Whitaker had been deleted, including a Dec. 23, 2023 message asking if Whitaker and “Benji” had spoken “about that situation.”
United States Attorney Delia Smith charged White and Benjamin with bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and honest services wire fraud scheme.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said Thursday he found the indictments “deeply concerning” but urged withholding judgment until justice had taken its course.
Apple don’t fall far from it tree. 2.1 million contract for 16,000 kick back. No that don’t sound real. $16,000?? Old people say don’t envy your buddy for what they have, you don’t know what they do to get it. Bucket going in the well every day, one day the bottom will stay in. The children will pay for the sins of their parents. Good Luck!!!