Supreme Court Reverses 2019 Conviction in Medical Center Corruption Trial

More than a decade after he was charged with racketeering, fraud and embezzlement, St. Thomas attorney Amos Carty Jr. has been cleared of wrongdoing at the Schneider Regional Medical Center.

A three-judge panel at the Virgin Islands Supreme Court reversed Carty’s 2019 conviction in an appellate ruling delivered on Thursday.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice Rhys Hodge, the justices said the legal advice Carty provided to the hospital’s chief may have been wrong, and Carty himself may have gained financially, but prosecutors failed to prove he did so with an intent to break the law.

“For reasons that follow, we reverse all of his convictions and direct entry of a judgment of acquittal on all counts,” the chief justice wrote.

A high court panel consisting of Hodge, Associate Justice Maria Cabret and Designated Justice Curtis Gomez heard oral arguments in Carty’s appeal on Oct. 12. Associate Justice Ive Arlington Swan recused himself from the case, according to court documents.

Attorney Gordon Rhea, representing Carty, told justices that prosecutors from the Justice Department “failed to prove that any of his conduct was unauthorized and that even if it was he lacked the intent to violate the law or commit fraud due to his reliance on advice from numerous lawyers, auditors, and accountants.”

Carty served briefly as Schneider Regional’s chief executive officer following the departure of Rodney Miller in 2007. Prior to that, Carty held the post of chief operating officer at a public health facility where he began as legal counsel in 1999. He was removed from the top spot by the hospital’s board of directors in 2008 after an audit report by the Office of the V.I. Inspector General raised allegations of corruption against Miller, Carty and then-Chief Financial Officer Peter Najawicz.