Ex-OMB director still working to retain legal counsel in fraud case

A seizure warrant affidavit recently unsealed in federal court has shed additional light on the timeline of events that led up to the Jan. 10 indictments of former V.I. Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal.

Martinez and O’Neal are co-defendants, and each have pleaded not guilty to all charges, including honest services wire fraud, bribery from programs receiving federal funds, and money laundering conspiracy. Both were released after signing unsecured $10,000 appearance bonds. On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Conley asked the court to schedule an expedited status conference, after learning that O’Neal has not retained legal counsel and is technically representing herself at the moment, according to a motion filed in U.S. District Court.

Attorney Treston Moore represented O’Neal at her arraignment, but the government “has just been informed that Defendant O’Neal is now pro se, though she remains in the process of potentially hiring a new attorney,” according to Conley’s motion. That “complicates” the prosecution’s efforts to comply with U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Alan Teague’s Jan. 10 order, which set Friday as the deadline for the parties to discuss the timetable and procedure for discovery. Conley asked the court to schedule a remote status conference today or tomorrow.