GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS! JURY FINDS BARNES BILKED USVI GOVERNMENT OF $600,000

CHRISTIANSTED — Jurors in U.S. District Court in Golden Rock found a St. Croix woman guilty on all counts after deliberating for about five hours Thursday.

Stephanie Barnes, 62,, was convicted of three federal and local criminal charges following a three-week trial, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.

Barnes was convicted of conspiring with former Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission Chairwoman Violet Anne Golden to embezzle or steal property valued at $5,000 or more that was under the care, custody and control of the Government of the Virgin Islands.

As alleged in the Indictment and proven at trial, it was part of the conspiracy that Golden agreed to hire Barnes to serve as the Casino Commission’s first-ever “Certified Problem Gambling Specialist” although at the time she was hired

Barnes had not yet actually received such certification.

Golden agreed to use Commission funds to help Barnes receive that certification as well as her Master’s and, eventually, her Ph.D. The two women also conspired to use Commission funds to pay for Barnes’ personal vehicle repairs and gasoline, hurricane-related personal expenses after the storms of 2017, and lavish vacations including by chartered plane with VIP passes to the St. Kitts Music Festival.