A jury of Virgin Islanders heard from the last witness Wednesday in the federal wire fraud and bribery trial of Calvert White, the former Sports, Parks and Recreation director, and Benjamin Hendricks, a business owner and government contractor. White and Hendricks have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The government’s key witness in the case, David Whitaker, took the witness stand Tuesday. Amid questioning from the prosecution, Whitaker told the court that White helped steer what ultimately ended up being a $1.43 million federally-funded government contract to Whitaker’s former company, Mon Ethos Pro Support, to install surveillance cameras at DSPR facilities in exchange for a bribe. Though the contract was awarded to Mon Ethos, it was never executed.
The 15-page grand jury indictment of White and Hendricks included partial transcripts of multiple recordings in which Whitaker could be heard discussing elements of the alleged kickback scheme with White, Hendricks or both. Over two days, jurors heard more complete versions of those recordings, most of which were made using a Federal Bureau of Investigation recording device operated by Whitaker. The government also presented multiple screenshots of WhatsApp and text conversations. In one, White told Hendricks to “Let David know I cannot go Into [sic] this meeting today and fight for him unless he settles with me,” an apparent reference to White’s attempts to influence contract award decision of a Property and Procurement Department evaluation committee meeting.
“Done deal I’m on it,” Hendricks replied.
Jurors also heard a recording from the evaluation committee meeting, during which Whitaker and White could be heard colluding to make Mon Ethos’s bid more competitive with rival bidder SmartNet — without the knowledge of evaluation committee members on the call.
Whitaker eventually wired $5,000 to Hendricks — labeling the payment “Partial payment for contract” with his bank — for which he was reimbursed by the Justice Department. That same amount was deposited into one of White’s bank accounts 90 days later. According to Whitaker, White agreed to help him secure the contract in exchange for one percent of the bid price, or $16,000 at the time the alleged scheme was hatched.
White and Hendricks’s attorneys began cross-examining Whitaker Tuesday and attempted to paint Whitaker as a career con man and unreliable witness, citing his lengthy and well-publicized criminal history. According to a plea agreement unsealed in U.S. District Court last September, Whitaker admitted to two counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds in connection with a separate case. One of those charges stemmed from Whitaker “finding” surveillance devices in Virgin Islands government offices after he was hired to sweep the offices for bugs in 2022.
In actuality, Whitaker acknowledged, he planted them himself and billed the V.I. Police Department more than $130,000 for the work. Whitaker maintained in court that he never turned the devices on and that he removed them on the same day that he planted them. Whitaker also said he monitored people at the direction of Ray Martinez, the former police commissioner, who was indicted by a grand jury in January for allegedly accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from Whitaker. Martinez has filed a civil suit against Whitaker alleging entrapment.
Prior to arriving in the Virgin Islands, Whitaker was arrested in Mexico in 2008 and returned to the United States to face charges related to bilking millions from customers by selling — and not delivering — electronic equipment. While on the lam in Mexico, Whitaker allegedly made millions selling steroids and human growth hormone on the black market. He was convicted but received a dramatically reduced sentence in exchange for working with federal investigators in a sting operation that would cost search giant Google $500 million in fines for facilitating online drug sales. While being questioned by White’s attorney, Clive Rivers, Whitaker at times appeared to forget the specifics of previous convictions.
On Wednesday, Judge Mark Kearney denied the defense’s motion to allow the jury to hear certain details about Whitaker’s criminal history. The government argued that many of the crimes occurred decades ago and had no bearing on the matter at hand. According to Whitaker, White and Hendricks were well aware of his history.
Rivers and Hendricks’s attorney, Darren John-Baptiste, attempted to show Whitaker as a technology expert capable of manipulating or doctoring data. An FBI special agent called to the stand, Kiernan Whitworth, told the court that the device used to make most of the recordings heard at trial was a proprietary government recorder that can only be downloaded by federal law enforcement.
The sole witness called by either of the defendants was Julio Rhymer, the current Management and Budget director, whom Rivers asked about information listed on OMB’s website.
The government and the defendants rested Wednesday afternoon, and the trial will continue Thursday with closing arguments and instructions to the jury before they deliberate.
