Charlemagnes, Richardson To Be Tried Separately in HUD Fraud Investigation, Court Rules

Charges against Davidson and Sasha Charlemagne will proceed separately from Darin Richardson after judge finds no joint conspiracy evidence

Following their indictments in June, Davidson Charlemagne, Sasha Charlemagne, and Darin Richardson asked the court to sever the matters from each other. Over the objections of prosecutors, the District Court of the Virgin Islands granted their request on Wednesday.

The charges stem from a two-year investigation involving a VIHFA contract for storage and management of lumber that was shipped to the territory to be used for the reconstruction of commercial and residential buildings following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. The Charlemagnes stand accused of government program fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, while Mr. Richardson was charged with criminal conflict of interest and making materially false statements.

The defendants argued that Mr. Richardson’s case be tried separately from the Charlemagnes’ matter, because prosecutors have failed to make the case that the trio participated in a joint conspiracy. Government lawyers tried to argue that even in the absence of conspiracy charges, joint proceedings can still be proper if all defendants participated in the same actions. There was a common illicit enterprise in this instance – to defraud the federal government when it came to storage and management of the lumber, prosecutors claimed.