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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Frequent Flyer Grounded

An accused contractor was ordered to pay more than $50,000 cash bail after his latest arrest. (Shutterstock photo)

A St. Thomas contractor was ordered to jail by a magistrate in Superior Court following his arrest on Monday. In documents filed with the court, investigators from the Virgin Islands Police Department Economic Crimes Division say the defendant took money for home construction that never took place.

Superior Court Magistrate Simone Van Holten-Turnbull presided over an uncommon advice of rights hearing Wednesday, where defendant Anson Gallaway faced charges from St. Thomas and St. Croix at the same time. Allegations of grand larceny and obtaining money by false pretense came from different property owners from each district.

Investigators said the deposits collected by Gallaway from six different clients to build prefabricated homes amounted to $298,262.50. Each set of charges came with bail amounts set by authorities.

The arrest warrant from St. Croix was signed by Superior Court Magistrate Ernest Morris.

The warrant filed on St. Thomas, involving one client, called for $35,000 bail. The one from St. Croix, involving five clients, called for $100,000 bail. Over the objections of Gallaway’s lawyer, Van Holten ordered the defendant to pay $55,250 cash.

Defense attorney David Cattie argued that the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands ruled against the court setting bail based on the number of charges involved. Cattie pointed out that his client turned himself in at the time of his arrest and had already paid bail following arrests in two previous cases.

He also pointed out that Galloway had made all court appearances since then.

“My client is not a flight risk,” the lawyer said. But Van Holten disagreed.

“The two pending cases are not before this court. This warrant is before the court,” she said.

And it appeared, the magistrate said, that the cases against Galloway were piling up. Because new prosecutions brought the possibility of greater penalties if convicted, Van Holten declared Gallaway was both a flight risk and a danger to the community.

If the contractor is able to meet the bail set at Wednesday’s hearing, Van Holten said she would fashion pre-trial conditions that would allow him to resume his contracting business. Gallaway’s business — GHI Home Innovations, LLC — has locations on St. Thomas and in Florida.

His lawyer said his client needs to get back to work in Florida so he can make money and pay the court.

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