None of the other individuals charged in the indictment remain affiliated with Athens City Schools in any manner. Former Athens City School superintendent pleads guilty to defrauding state, Will Dismukes found guilty of first-degree theft of property, Alabama Supreme Court upholds removal of Talladega probate judge. He is one of two former schools superintendents, including former Limestone county Superintendent Tom Sisk, accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S Government. In fact, as mentioned during the Justice Departments press conference, the indictment does not include any current Limestone County School employees. All three men will also face three years of supervised release at the end of those sentences and will pay hefty fines. The private school parents continued to pay tuition to the private schools. In the four months that the investigation has been underway, officials within the school system say they have fully cooperated with a federal investigation, and, per the superintendents contract, has continued to pay Holladays salary and related benefits. Zwingli and the other reformers showed that engaging in debate about faith was intellectually progressive. Athens school administrator William Richard Rick Carter Jr. was found guilty of conspiracy, four counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft in March. Holladay faces up to five years in prison and large fines after pleading guilty. We will continue to cooperate with Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart and her team until the matter is completely adjudicated and settled.. And Thompson said testimony revealed that 98 percent of the students used in the scheme were white. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. 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. . All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The DOJ reminds the public that an indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. Former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay pleaded guilty in a multi-million dollar virtual academy fraud scheme. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. 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. Former Athens, Limestone superintendents indicted for virtual-education . Six people, including two former superintendents, are named in the indictment. According to court documents, education records will not be disclosed to the public, however, they will only be shared with those involved in this case. The four co-defendants each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to . Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Ivey announces new record low unemployment rate for Alabama, Small business optimism declines in March, 2022 economic development projects brought record capital investment, Online job ads in February down 12.4 percent from last year, Britt: Kids Social Media Act critical for protecting children, Sewell calls on Congress to reject Republican debt ceiling demands, Britt part of bipartisan effort to regulate kids use of social media, US Sen. 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The Alabama department of education wanted defendants to repay $5.7 million paid to Athens City Schools for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. WAFF 48 reached out to Athens City Schools for a comment regarding this case. Former Limestone County Schools superintendent Tom Sisk was indicted on one charge of Conspiracy. APRs Josh Moon first reported about the FBIs investigation into Holladay in August when he reported that in less than three years, Limestones general fund budget swelled from a reserve balance of around $2 million to now more than $20 million. Former Athens superintendent sentenced to 5 years in federal prison City of Pasadena - California A federal grand jury indicted William Lee "Trey" Holladay III, 56, of Athens, the former Athens City superintendent, and former Limestone County Schools superintendent Thomas Michael Sisk, 55, of . WATCH: Former Athens and Limestone County superintendents indicted on 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. Copyright 2020 WAFF. Carter's co-conspirators include former superintendent of the Athens City Schools district Dr. William L. ("Trey") Holladay, III; David Webb Tutt, of Uniontown, Alabama; Gregory ("Greg") Earl Corkren, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and former superintendent of the Limestone County School district Thomas Michael Sisk. All rights reserved. The defendants skimmed the state money through direct cash payments and payments to third-party contractors owned by the various co-conspirators. Former Athens City Schools Superintendent William "Trey" Holladay was indicted on one charge of Conspiracy and dozens of charges of Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. Page 2. Carter will be sentenced in August. If convicted of the conspiracy charge, the DOJ says that , "Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of five ears imprisonment, as well as substantial monetary penalties and restitution. 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. Date: 8/14/2023. The indictment further alleges that the defendants went to various lengths to conceal the fraud from the state. 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. Holladay is accused of purposely scheming private school students and their parents out of millions of dollars for his personal gain. As a result of this, districts received payments from Alabamas Education Trust Fund as if the students actually attended public schools. 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. Ill write about them over and over again. Former Athens, Limestone superintendents face federal conspiracy - WAFF If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. 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. Holladay was one of three defendants sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson. Landon Powell, Matt Williams, Hunter Dilworth, Ryan Brown, Trey Dyson and JK Love. If you want to plan the perfect spring picnic, food and drink are important, but its certainly not the only factor to consider. The six-day protest was their first in decades and led to a 6% raise for teachers, added nurses and school . STEALING FROM THE STATE: Ex-superintendents indicted in multiyear Additionally, Athens City Schools filed a motion for a protective order of education records in November. Trey Holladay. TM & document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); 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. Five others were named in Tuesdays indictment. These sentences may seem severe, but they are in accordance with the severity of the criminal acts these individuals committed.. 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. We appreciate so much the overwhelming support from our friends and community. Moving forward, we will be a transparent and accountable school system which provides the best educational experience we can for our students. The following statement was read by Superintendent Beth Patton: The Athens City Schools community is shocked and very concerned to read Tuesdays release from the U.S. Attorneys office. Corkren and Tutt each faced a sentence of up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. W.L. The Day's Scoop: Your daily email briefing on all things Alabama politics. Crusader. Holladay left the school district months after the FBI started investigating him in 2020. Former Limestone County Superintendent Tom Sisk was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Tuesday, fined $15,000 and ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution. Alabamas community colleges have experienced an increase in enrollment by at least 5 percent each year since 2020. 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. The former superintendent of the Athens City Schools System on Thursday pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to defraud the state by inflating the number of students enrolled in a virtual school. In November 2008, 75% of voters approved Measure PS, a $235 million school bond measure, to provide for the renovation of schools. Former Athens City Schools superintendent William L. "Trey" Holladay III on Thursday received the maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.9 million in . 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.
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