V.I. Department of Justice Remembers Former Chief Deputy Attorney General Joseph Ponteen
Cue Writer
Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea confirmed Ponteen’s passing on behalf of the department, calling his decades of service to the territory immeasurable.
Ponteen was born on Montserrat and relocated to St. Croix at age 12, where he came of age and first developed the drive toward public service that would define his career. After finishing his secondary education at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal High School, he went on to earn a business degree from Boston University, an MBA from the University of Miami, and ultimately a law degree from the University of Georgia in 1981.
He returned home to St. Croix to begin practicing law, spending his first decade as a public defender in the territory, representing clients from 1981 until 1992. Colleagues would later describe that period as the foundation for a reputation he carried for the rest of his career: a sharp, principled advocate who took his clients’ cases seriously.
Ponteen moved to the Department of Justice in 1992 as an Assistant Attorney General, a role that put him at the center of major criminal prosecutions and complex litigation on behalf of the Virgin Islands government for more than a decade. In 2004, he temporarily stepped away from courtroom work to take on a leadership post at the Bureau of Corrections, overseeing the agency during a period of federal court oversight before returning to the DOJ.
By 2016, Ponteen had climbed to the department’s second-highest post, Chief Deputy Attorney General, supervising major criminal cases and advising a succession of Attorneys General. He briefly led the department outright, serving as Acting Attorney General between December 2018 and January 2019 during a leadership transition.
Outside the courtroom, Ponteen built a reputation as a mentor and teacher, regularly appearing at legal and judicial conferences to train the territory’s next generation of attorneys and judges.
“He was an exceptional attorney, a trusted advisor, and a mentor to countless lawyers who benefited from his wisdom and experience,” Attorney General Rhea said. “His contributions to this Department and to the USVI justice system are immeasurable.”
Rhea extended condolences on behalf of the department to Ponteen’s family and to the many people, in his words, who had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him.
Current and former colleagues at the DOJ described Ponteen as a steady, understated presence whose judgment shaped the department for decades — an influence they expect to continue through the many attorneys he trained.
The Virgin Islands Department of Justice said it joins the broader community in mourning Ponteen and honoring a career it described as marked by service, excellence, and a lasting commitment to justice in the territory.