ST. THOMAS — Former senator Wayne James since Monday has been in District Court here attempting to defend himself against several charges brought by federal prosecutors, charges that include two counts of wire fraud and one count of federal program embezzlement.
Late Tuesday, both sides completed their arguments and the jury’s deliberation continued into Wednesday evening, as Mr. James’s fate hung in the balance.
On Wednesday, the former senator’s public defender, Omodare Jupiter, had called for Judge Curtis Gomez to declare a mistrial after federal prosecutors — even after being warned several times by Judge Gomez — raised arguments not related to the case. Judge Gomez ultimately did not grant the mistrial request, but he did chastise the federal prosecutors for not hiding his warning.
According to a federal indictment, while serving between 2009 and 2011 as chair of the Senate Committee on Youth, Education and Culture in the 28th Legislature, Mr. James allegedly obtained tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars for the purpose of acquiring and translating historical documents related to the “Fireburn,” an 1878 uprising by freed slaves in St. Croix.
The indictment alleges that Mr. James submitted false documents to the Legislature and received cash advances in order to conduct historical research on behalf of the people of the Virgin Islands. Mr. James embezzled the cash advances for his own personal benefit instead of using them for the intended purposes, according to the indictment.
Mr. James, 56. was taken into custody by Italian police late June, following an internationally issued warrant in October 2015 by the District Court of the Virgin Islands related to alleged wire fraud, document forgery and embezzlement.
On Monday before appearing in court, the former senator appeared confident, posting a picture to his Facebook profile along with the comment, “on the way to the battlefield to do battle.”
Correction: August 16, 2018
A previous version of this story included the wrong age for Wayne James. He is 56, not 57. The story has been updated.
Tags: usvi, wayne james
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