April 12, 2007 — Former government aide Alric Simmonds pleaded not guilty on Thursday to 94 counts of conversion, embezzlement and grand larceny and requested, during a hearing held in V.I. Superior Court, a "speedy" jury trial.
Deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, Simmonds was arrested earlier this month after an inspector general's investigation concluded that Simmonds had siphoned off nearly $1 million from a local government account for his own personal use.
Presently, no trial date has been set for Simmonds' case, which has been assigned to Superior Court Judge Edgar Ross. On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar said Ross will also have to rule on a motion filed on Wednesday by Simmonds' defense attorneys, who have requested that Simmonds be allowed to go back to work pending the start of a trial.
During a hearing held April 2, Hollar ruled that if Simmonds was able to meet his $55,000 bail requirement, he would have to remain at home, wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, surrender his passport and other travel documents, and report daily to a probation officer.
In order to avoid a higher bail requirement — at the time, prosecuting attorney Lofton P. Holder requested Simmonds' bail be set at $250,000 — Simmonds opted to remain at home, instead of reporting back to work and being released into the custody of his employer, who had a agreed to serve as a third-party custodian (See "Bail Set for Former Turnbull Aide Accused of Embezzling Nearly $1 Million").
Simmonds, in order to make bail, put up his house at No. 15-A Prindsens Gade as collateral. According to court documents, however, Simmonds still has to pay off the mortgage on the property, which will ultimately be affected by his inability to work.
"At this juncture, the loss of income and loss associated with electronic monitoring will create significant financial hardship and may cause the loss of his [Simmonds] home, which has been posted and on which there is still a mortgage," the defense's motion states.
A financial status report included in Simmonds' case file indicates that Simmonds, at his present job, pulls in a monthly income of $3,200. The salary is divided between paying off his mortgage and another $2,403 worth of expenses, including condo fees and utility bills.
In terms of monetary assets, Simmonds has $1,000 in the bank and another $91 in "cash on-hand," the report states, along with a college investment fund valued at $8,000.
Simmonds has been employed as a salesman at Caribbean Auto Mart on St. Thomas for the past three months.
During a hearing held in V.I. Superior Court on April 2, special investigator Nicholas Peru testified that Simmonds was a signatory to a local government account, which was initially set up for the Bureau of Economic Research (BER). However, Peru explained that over the course of about four years, Simmonds allegedly deposited more than $1 million worth of government funds into the account and withdrew the money by writing a series of checks made payable to himself or to cash.
For writing the checks, Simmonds is being charged with 66 counts of embezzlement and falsification of government accounts. Another 25 counts relate to the conversion of government funds — that is, unlawfully withdrawing money from the BER account in excess of $1,000.
Three counts of grand larceny have been added for "stealing excessive amounts of cash valued at over $100 from the BER account."
Simmonds, who remained quiet during Thursday's arraignment hearing, also refused to make a statement to the media after he stepped outside the courtroom.
"No comment," he said softly, as he waved his hand and shifted into a corner of a third-floor hallway.
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