Former Athens superintendent pleaded guilty to conspiracy in virtual His previous experience includes system-wide administrator, high school principal, elementary principal, assistant principal, athletic director, classroom teacher, and head football coach within the state of Alabama. Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. The various defendants then received, for their own personal use, portions of the state money. April 27, 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice released an indictment Tuesday related to the investigation of a former Superintendent of Athens City Schools. However, the government agreed to drop more than 80 additional counts against Holladay most of which were various counts of wire fraud related to the conspiracy and dropped all charges against Holladays wife, who participated in the scheme. Additionally, Athens City Schools filed a motion for a protective order of education records in November. A former Athens school superintendent has pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to defraud the Alabama State Department of Education by falsely inflating the number of students enrolled in public virtual schools. I hope that this indictment serves as a warning for others who might try to line their pockets with public funds., Public corruption remains the FBIs top criminal priority because public officials must be trusted to do their jobs with honesty and integrity, stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. The citizens of Alabama should rest assured that the FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate corruption at every level and hold accountable those officials who violate the publics trust and use their position for profit or gain., These so-called educators have been charged for preying on the schools that placed them in positions of trust to educate students and the students they promised to serve. There is absolutely no way that we would do anything detrimental to the school system. Others indicted include William Richard Carter, Jr. (Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft), Gregory Earl Corkren (Conspiracy, Aggravated Identity Theft), and David Webb Tutt (Conspiracy). The settlement also provides financial savings and more certainty for financial obligations under Holladays employment contract. The indictment further alleges that the defendants went to various lengths to conceal the fraud from the state.Such lengths included: creating fake report cards, manufacturing false addresses for the students of the private schools who lived outside of Alabama, and submitting falsified course completion reports to the state department of education. As a result of the fraudulent reporting the school systems received payments from Alabamas Education Trust Fund as if the students actually attended public schools. It is located 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, and is the third-largest school district in Los Angeles County. According to a plea agreement finalized Thursday, Trey Holladay admitted that he, along with Thomas Michael Sisk, former superintendent of the Limestone County Schools system, conspired to tell the state false numbers of students in their school systems so that they could pocket additional state money. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Josh Moon is an investigative reporter and featured columnist at the Alabama Political Reporter with years of political reporting experience in Alabama. Published on May 25, 2021 at 2:25 pm CDT. Current Limestone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Randy Shearouse released this statement: On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Limestone County Schools learned it was mentioned in an indictment for involvement with a virtual school program during the 2016-2017 school year. David Cole again takes election challenge to the Alabama Supreme Court, Manufacture Alabama endorses Judge Chris McCool for Supreme Court, Alabama Forestry Association endorses Chris McCool for Alabama Supreme Court, Alabama Forestry Association endorses Twinkle Cavanaugh for PSC president, Alabama-based Strategy Management win three industry awards, Opinion | Educational outcomes not politics should be our top priority, Ivey: Pre-K secretary dismissed due to distractions of different lifestyles, equity, Local agencies receive $4.4 million in grants to weatherize homes, Ivey signs bill setting mandatory minimums for fentanyl trafficking, Economic development bills to focus on rural development, site prep, Week in review: House handles business after passing General Fund budget, Alabama Arise supports Senate bill to reduce grocery tax, Bill filed to ban drag shows in public spaces, Bill targeting shoplifting passes Senate Judiciary committee, Abortion access advocates lobby legislators to support HB17, oppose HB208, Alabamas spring housing market in a unique position, Gov. WATCH: Former Athens and Limestone County superintendents indicted on Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan S. Ross, Alice S. LaCour, and Brett J. Talley are prosecuting the case. Holladay was on leave from June 2020 until his last day with the district on Oct. 31, 2020. LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. - Former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay officially pleaded guilty in a multi-million dollar virtual academy fraud scheme on Thursday. . . In fact, the indictment alleged, the Holladays were simply being paid for the phony transcripts of private school students. Two more of his co-conspirators will join him for at least a portion of that time. enewscourier.com . is a thirty-one-year veteran public school educator with twenty-seven years in educational leadership.He is in his fourth year as superintendent of the Athens City Schools system in Athens, AL. All the while, the state reimbursed the Athens City Schools district and the Limestone County Schools district for the cost of supposedly educating these private school students. That is completely unacceptable, said Kori Smith, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector Generals Southeastern Regional Office. FBI confirms 'law enforcement action' taken at Athens City Schools This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Corkren also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. Any defendant convicted of wire or mail fraud faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, as well as substantial monetary penalties and restitution. The charges against us are unfounded and will be vigorously defended. Public Invited to 'Spring Into Wellness' Community Health Festival. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. ATHENS, Ala. (WAFF) - UPDATE: See details from Thursdays special meeting of the Athens City Board of Education below the details of each individuals charges. The indictment states the purpose of the conspiracy was to obtain greater state funding allocations through the Foundation Program than they would otherwise have been entitled. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Educations Office of Inspector General. Alabama department of education wanted defendants to repay $5.7 million, found guilty of conspiracy, four counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft in March, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Such lengths included: creating fake report cards, manufacturing false addresses for the students of the private schools who lived outside of Alabama, and submitting falsified course completion reports to the state department of education. And Thompson said testimony revealed that 98 percent of the students used in the scheme were white. While the school system was mentioned in the indictment brought in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, the indictment does not name the Limestone County Board of Education or anyone currently involved with Limestone County Schools as defendants. The students continued to attend the brick-and-mortar private schools each day, they received instruction from employees of the private schools, and, after class, some played sports for their private schools. Reporter Josh Moon contributed to this report. Two other co-defendants Greg Corkren and David Tutt have admitted to operating similar businesses, with all involved raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars for locating virtual students that never actually enrolled in the Athens virtual school. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, WHNT News 19 Sales Team Broadcast and Digital, Former Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk pleads guilty to fraud charge, Le Creuset just launched a dreamy new color for spring, Our fitness expert weighs in on this years top spring, Picnic-planning ideas for the spring season, Parents, teachers asks for upgrade to Highland Rim, Status hearing set for Casey White ahead of murder, HPD investigating robbery at Winchester Road business, Lee names fieldhouse after Condrege Holloway, SpaceX Crew-5 Astronauts visit Huntsville, Teen with rare disease prepares for first concert, Met Gala: Tennis star, supermodel reveal pregnancies, U.S. They also concocted a scheme in which Tutt, Corkren and Deborah Holladay, Trey Holladays wife, created consulting companies that allegedly recruited students to the virtual schools. Former Limestone County Schools superintendent Tom Sisk was indicted on one charge of Conspiracy. The two superintendents then received state money for the inflated enrollment numbers, which they then kept for personal use, through a complicated system of false report cards, false addresses and false completion reports, prosecutors said. In doing so, they stole children and parents identities and bribed administrators of private schools. Former Athens, Limestone superintendents face federal conspiracy - WAFF A former correctional lieutenant was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday with counts of use of excessive force and obstruction. TM & document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); WAFF 48 reached out to Athens City Schools for a comment regarding this case. . Pomona Unified School District - Wikipedia
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