By By SUZANNE CARLSON Daily News Staff
Copyright virginislandsdailynews
The defense attorney for Benjamin Hendricks has notified a federal judge that he did not respond to a previous scheduling order because his law office was destroyed by fire.
Attorney Darren John-Baptiste “apologizes to the Court for being unreachable in the last few days due to the fact that the undersigned counsel’s office got destroyed in an early morning fire on September 10, 2025, leaving counsel temporarily with no working systems in place,” according to a filing Wednesday.
John-Baptiste attached a copy of the V.I. Fire and Emergency Medical Services incident report for the fire at 45-46 Prindsens Gade. The blaze completely destroyed the structure, which was a mixture of commercial offices and apartments, displacing four families.
In Wednesday’s filing, John-Baptiste notified U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kearney that he has no objection to continuing the sentencing for Hendricks from the current date of Dec. 2, to Jan. 22 or 23.
Hendricks was indicted alongside Calvert White in January on charges of honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and jurors returned guilty verdicts for both men in July.
White, 49, is the former head of the V.I. Department of Sports, Parks, and Recreation. Hendricks, 62, a government contractor who owns the maintenance company A Clean Environment.
Government House Communications Director Richard Motta Jr. has not responded to questions from The Daily News about whether the government plans to cancel its current contracts with A Clean Environment.
Both Hendricks and White have been allowed to remain free pending sentencing, and White’s sentencing was recently delayed from Dec. 5 to Jan. 22.
White’s attorney Clive Rivers also filed a motion for a new trial in August, which is still awaiting briefing.
Two other former members of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s Cabinet, former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal, are scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 3.
Martinez is the former Police commissioner, and O’Neal is the former Office of Management and Budget director. Both have pleaded not guilty to similar public corruption charges, including wire fraud and bribery.
