White, Hendricks Sentencing Dates Set for December

A federal judge has scheduled December sentencing dates for Calvert White and Benjamin Hendricks, who were convicted of honest services wire fraud and bribery last week. According to orders filed in U.S. District Court Tuesday, White’s sentencing will take place on Dec. 5 and Hendricks’s on Dec. 2 at the federal courthouse on St. Thomas.

A jury found White and Hendricks guilty Friday after federal prosecutors successfully demonstrated that the pair used White’s influence as then-commissioner of the Sports, Parks and Recreation Department to steer a surveillance camera contract to the company of a convicted felon and cooperating witness in exchange for a $16,000 bribe. During the trial’s closing arguments, Hendricks was described as White’s “middleman, helper, aider and abettor.” Each was found guilty of both charges.

Honest services wire fraud carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, and bribery carries a maximum of 10 years. In deciding their sentences, a judge will consider the findings of a presentence report, federal sentencing guidelines and the recommendations of the parties’ attorneys.