Citing Alliance With ‘Convicted Criminal,’ Mapp Fires Attorney LaVerne Mills-Williams

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp has ordered Acting Attorney General Claude Walker to terminate the employment of Attorney LaVerne Mills-Williams, with the governor sending notification to Mrs. Mills-Williams himself through a notice of termination letter. Above, Governor Kenneth Mapp speaking during Veterans Day 2015 celebrations.

The reason for the dismissal, according to a press release Government House issue late last night, was because of Mrs. Mills-Williams alliance with Attorney Lee Rohn, a lawyer whose name is ubiquitous in the territory, and whom Mr. Mapp said is a “convicted criminal known for consorting with persons who have been convicted on more than one occasion of trafficking in, distributing and using narcotics and other illegal substances in and through the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

What Mr. Mapp deems as an unholy alliance was birthed when Mrs. Mills-Williams filed suit against the administration, after a fallout over the governor’s credit card spending habits. Mrs. Mills-Williams was hired by Mr. Mapp through the recommendation of the administration’s Chief Legal Counsel, Emile Henderson III. Ostensibly, Mr. Mapp wanted to see and possibly block certain expenses from the public’s view — in violation of the Freedom of Information Act — but Mrs. Mills-Williams refused to adhere to the governor’s demands, according to local media reports. She was later unceremoniously relieved from her duties at Government House, where she served as special assistant attorney general to the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands, and jounced to and fro to various government departments by the administration.

“I am not confident that your access and potential influence to ongoing criminal investigations and evidence would not be compromised on behalf of and through your association with Attorney Lee J. Rohn,” wrote the governor in his notice of termination letter.

Mr. Mapp directed Mr. Walker to immediately terminate her access to files, communications equipment, and all Department of Justice property, and to process a final payroll payment to her for the period October 5, 2015, through the last day she was physically present for work at the Department of Justice.