CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A DLCA enforcement officer was convicted by a St. Thomas federal jury of blackmailing a woman for sexual favors in exchange for not reporting a Virgin Islands Code violation and other bribery-related charges, authorities said.
Robert Defreitas, 32, an officer with the Virgin Islands Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs (DLCA), was convicted at trial of travel act bribery and solicitation of a bribe by a public employee, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said. He faces six years in prison and fines based on the convictions.
According to the evidence presented at trial, in August 2018 Defreitas assisted with a DLCA inspection of a St. Thomas business, during which time he discovered that one of the company’s workers had entered the country illegally.
Defrietas attempted to use this information against the victim. The victim later recorded a phone call in which Defreitas sought sexual favors in return for not reporting the victim’s immigration status.
A recording of the phone call was played for the jury during the prosecution’s case-in-chief.
Evidence at trial also showed numerous calls by Defreitas to the victim’s phone number and efforts by Defrietas to disguise the purpose for his phone calls.
Defreitas was remanded to custody following trial,= and the court scheduled his sentencing for April 15, 2020.
A grand jury indictment was filed against the DLCA officer in February.
UPDATE: “I write to you upon noting that your media outlet reported on the federal criminal court case of United States of America v. Robert Defreitas in the United States District Court for the Virgin Islands. You previously reported he was convicted and sentenced by a jury,” Attorney Richard F. Della Fera said from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “I think it only fair to Mr. Defreitas and your readership that you report that Mr. Defreitas’s convictions were overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on March 21, 2022 citing insufficient evidence to support his convictions.”
This case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nathan Brooks