CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A former V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs enforcement officer got 3.4 years in prison for blackmailing an illegal migrant for sex two years ago, authorities said.
Robert Defreitas, 32, formerly of DLCA, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for Travel Act bribery and solicitation of a bribe by a public employee, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
Defreitas was convicted of these offenses following a jury trial in December 2019.
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 not entered the country by legal means.
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 vicitm’s immigration status, and this recording was played for the jury during the prosecution’s case-in-chief.
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 was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Brooks.