Former Virgin Islands Police Chief Gets 10 Years for Role in Corruption Scheme

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS – Former Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department Ray Martinez was sentenced for his role in a procurement fraud, bribery, and money laundering scheme.

Martinez was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Martinez accepted nearly 100,000 in bribery payments from a government contractor, who gave him cash and payment for luxury travel, personal expenses, private-school tuition, and restaurant equipment.

In exchange for these payments, Martinez used his official authority to approve invoices submitted by the contractor.

The FBI’s San Juan Field Office helped lead the investigation due to the U.S. Virgin islands being an unincorporated territory of the United States.