Former Special Assistant to the director of the Internal Revenue Bureau Stephen Monsanto was sentenced to prison Wednesday for fraudulently obtaining money from the government. Territorial Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar, who had earlier accepted a guilty plea from Monsanto through his attorney Treston Moore, sentenced Monsanto to more than a year in jail.
Government prosecutors maintained that Monsanto in 1997 diverted government funds to his private accounts by generating more than $200,000 in fictitious invoices to the government, having checks cut and then depositing those checks.
In addressing the court Wednesday, he asked that he be allowed to continue to make restitution. Calling his actions a "betrayal of the people of the Virgin Islands," Hollar ordered Monsanto to begin his prison term next week, allowing him a few days to finalize his affairs.
The outstanding money owed the government in the form of restitution is estimated at $28,000. Monsanto still owes A&S Realty $20,000.
The government was represented at the sentencing by prosecutor Brad Sphrem.
