After receiving a $766,000 payment from the V.I. government Tuesday for housing local prisoners in federal facilities off-island, the U.S. Treasury has stopped diverting funds earmarked for the territory.
According to a Government House release, Tuesday’s payment and the promise to keep up on the monthly $200,000 payment for the territory’s 90 prisoners housed on the mainland persuaded the Treasury to suspend its collection efforts against the government. The V.I.’s 10-year-old, $13-million debt to the Federal Bureau of Prisons had been turned over to the Treasury Department for collection.
Because of non-payment, Treasury diverted $1.6 million in federal funds that were headed to the territory to pay down the debt. According to the Turnbull administration, the territory has paid $3.5 million toward its debt in the last 15 months. Those payments, along with the $1.6 million already diverted by Treasury, have been credited to the V.I. government.
The administration contends that a large part of the debt was caused because of hurricane damage to the territory’s prison and then a subsequent consent decree agreed upon between the V.I. and federal governments to solve over crowding problems.
V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron said the prisoners were supposed to be housed off island for only six months.
Meanwhile, the expansion of the Golden Grove Prison on St. Croix should help in returning the 90 prisoners in the federal to the territory. Stridiron said by the end of April about 10 medium-security prisoners will be returned to Golden Grove. That number will increase each month until the end of summer. He said by August all the prisoners should be returned.
