April 20, 2023. RELATED: Athens City Schools approves separation agreement with former superintendent, $250,000 payment. Trey Holladay. Show All Show Calendar. Officials say this settlement payment resolves and eliminates any further compensation as well as other expenses which may have otherwise been obliged to pay related to the matter. 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. A trial date had been set for September 13th in Montgomery for former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay, his wife Deborah Holladay and Rick Carter, director of innovative. Additionally, any defendant convicted of aggravated identity theft could receive a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence on each count. In total, the Alabama Department of Education believes the six people robbed public schools of more than $5 million using a variety of methods to falsify virtual schools rolls and illegally gain more per-pupil funding. 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. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to fraudulently enroll students in public virtual schools and then falsely report those students to the Alabama State Department of Education. Former Limestone County Schools superintendent Tom Sisk was indicted on one charge of Conspiracy. ACS would then use, directly and indirectly, portions of the excess money to fund the completion of capital projects, including, the new campus of Athens High School. Former Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk, left, and former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay, right. Former Athens City School teacher Deborah Irby Holladay was indicted on one charge of Conspiracy and numerous charges of Wire Fraud. We appreciate so much the overwhelming support from our friends and community. Terms of Use . 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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Over the past months, Athens City Schools has fully cooperated with the Department of Justice as its investigation proceeded. Co-defendant William Richard Carter, Jr., who headed up the Athens online school, is set for trial on February 7, 2022. 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. Former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay, one of six defendants indicted on federal charges of conspiracy in the scheme, is charged with conspiracy and 88 counts of wire fraud. Because the jury found the state proved certain aggravating circumstances, Dismukes could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Another round of projects was set for summer 2010, at 21 schools. All three men will also face three years of supervised release at the end of those sentences and will pay hefty fines. 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. The school systems agreed to pay the consulting companies a percentage of the per-pupil funds. Those students continued to attend brick-and-mortar private schools each day, continued to participate in private school athletics and their parents continued to pay tuition to the private schools. DIVISION II STATE CHAMPIONS. Hollaway was ordered to pay $2.9 million. All rights reserved. The Plaintiffs, in this case, are students who prosecutors say had their identities stolen. The charges against us are unfounded and will be vigorously defended. 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Holladay was one of three defendants sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson. 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. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). See WAFFs story below from October 2020 when the Athens City Board of Education removed Holladay from his role as Superintendent. Published on December 17, 2021 at 7:52 am CST. | HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Former Athens Superintendent William Lee "Trey" Holladay is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty for conspiracy in December. 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). Co-defendants . Zwingli and the other reformers showed that engaging in debate about faith was intellectually progressive. Scoops about Oxford City Schools . The defendants skimmed the state money through direct cash payments and payments to third-party contractors owned by the various co-conspirators. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 'Trey' Holladay, Ed.D. According to the indictment, the defendants obtained student identities to use in their scheme from various private schools located across the stateparticularly private schools in the Black Belt region of Alabama. Crusader. W.L. WAFF 48 reached out to Athens City Schools for a comment regarding this case. Thursday night the Athens City School Board announced they are going forward in making changes in the districts leadership. The Day's Scoop: Your daily email briefing on all things Alabama politics. Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 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. Trey Holladay. In his sentencing order on Thursday, federal judge Myron Thompson noted that the now-felons preyed upon some of the poorest school districts in Alabama, diverting hundreds of thousands of public school dollars from Alabama public schools and sending them instead to mostly white private schools that were operating in predominantly Black counties. Holladay and his co-defendants offered laptop computers, access to online curriculum, standardized testing and money to entice private schools, mostly located in Alabamas Black Belt, and gain access to those schools students private information, which they used to steal from the state, the press release states. Page 2. Holladay was on leave from June 2020 until his last day with the district on Oct. 31, 2020. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. We will continue to cooperate with Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart and her team until the matter is completely adjudicated and settled.. RELATED: Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk heading to Bristol, TN Board of Education. Help us combat the proliferation of sexual exploitation crimes against children. Retired Superintendent Of Ed., Athens City Schools Experience at: Athens City Schools, School Superintendents of Alabama, Personalized Learning - Athens Renaissance Now a resident of Montgomery, Holladay pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Alabama State Department of Education. In fact, as mentioned during the Justice Departments press conference, the indictment does not include any current Limestone County School employees. The elections are held on a first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years effective with the 2018 election. 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. There is absolutely no way that we would do anything detrimental to the school system. He faces a maximum prison sentence of five years along with substantial monetary penalties. The school system will continue to work with federal officials and the Alabama State Department of Education as the matter proceeds in court. Advertisement. Moving forward, we will be a transparent and accountable school system which provides the best educational experience we can for our students. In 1995 the school district bought the former Indian Hill Mall, a failing shopping center built in the 1960s, and redeveloped it into an educational, commercial and retail complex called The Village at Indian Hill.[1]. We will continue to hold high standards at every level from local schools to the state with the expectation that every public school dollar will be spent to support our children., Public officials and employees are obligated to perform their duties and administer funds with integrity and according to requirements of the law, said Alabama Attorney General Marshall. All rights reserved. Court records show on Tuesday Holladay changed his plea of not guilty to guilty for one count of conspiracy. Former teacher Greg Corkren and former Marengo High football coach Webb Tutt will serve 22 and 24 months, respectively, in federal prison. The federal indictment claims that Holladay and his wife were the masterminds behind this plan. Moving forward, we will be a transparent and accountable school system which provides the best educational experience we can for our students.. This was accomplished by enrolling full time in-person students into their respective virtual schools. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Published on May 25, 2021 at 2:25 pm CDT. Corkren will pay $1.3 million. David Rothwell Athletic Director at Iredell-Statesville Schools Statesville, NC. WAFFs Madison Scarpino was at the meeting. The system refers further inquiries about the matter to Dr. Holladay's legal counsel and the federal officials involved." . Rick Carter is an employee of the Athens City School District with some past duties including technology teacher and virtual programs coordinator. Each will have three years of supervised release after serving prison time. So far, the operators of the private schools have not faced charges for their roles, if any, in the scheme. In the court records, federal officials also said they will drop charges against Holladays wife, Deborah Holladay, who initially was charged with six counts of wire fraud. 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. The Board has not been informed of a date certain for the conclusion of the investigation. Reporter Josh Moon contributed to this report. Two more of his co-conspirators will join him for at least a portion of that time. The defendants named in the indictment are: (1) Dr. William L. ("Trey") Holladay, III, 56, a resident of Athens, Alabama and the former superintendent of the Athens City Schools district; (2) Deborah Irby Holladay, 57, of Athens and formerly employed by the Athens City Schools district; (3) William Richard ("Rick") Carter, Jr., 45, also of Athens had experienced a similar uptick in revenue the last five years. SUPERINTENDENT. He is in his fourth year as superintendent of the Athens City Schools system in Athens, AL. He left that post in February of 2020. In reality, however, the participants of the scheme were falsifying student names and using the personal information of actively enrolled private school students to bump up enrollment numbers. W.L. First Day of School 2023-2024. LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. Former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay, his wife and former Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk are among those named in a federal. The students whose identities were used in the scheme had little to no connection to the public school districts, federal officials confirmed. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. - Former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay pleaded guilty in a multi-million dollar virtual academy fraud scheme. When I was hired as your State Superintendent, I committed to improving education in our state which includes working closely with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability, so every crucial dollar is spent on educating our students, said Alabama State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey. According to court records and information contained in Holladays plea agreement, Holladay and Sisk did so when they submitted to the ALSDE lists of enrolled students who were, in reality, full-time students at private schools located in other parts of the state.. The Board says they will begin the process and timeline for posting and selecting a new superintendent within the next few weeks. As a result of this, districts received payments from Alabamas Education Trust Fund as if the students actually attended public schools. ATHENS, Ala. (WAFF) - Former Athens superintendent, William Lee "Trey" Holladay has entered a guilty plea for a conspiracy charge. April 27, 2023. Six people, including two former superintendents, are named in the indictment. Now, after months of a federal investigation, the Athens City School Board of Education unanimously approved a $250,000 separation agreement with Holladay. The Day's Scoop: Your daily email briefing on all things Alabama politics. 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. Holladay faces up to five years in prison and large fines after pleading guilty. Because of state laws, Athens Schools officials have been unable to terminate Rick Carter, who was convicted in March of seven felonies. Carter will be sentenced in August. During the school years that the scheme allegedly occurredthe 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school yearsthe private school students and parents had little to no connection with the public school districts in which they were supposedly enrolled. Trey Holladay is a Principal at Oxford City Schools based in Oxford, Alabama. The various defendants then received, for theirown personal use, portions of the state money. You can email him at [emailprotected] or reach him via Twitter. As Attorney General, I am committed to stand together with our partners in law enforcement to ensure that allegations of wrongdoing are investigated,and that appropriate action is taken.". Retired teacher Gregory Greg Earl Corkren was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and must pay $1.3 million in restitution, and former Marengo Academy football coach David Webb Tutt was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and must pay restitution of $259,000 and a fine of $15,000. 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. Its just wrong, Opinion | Sen. Jay Hovey may have meant well, but he was wrong. 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. A few years ago, some of the same people excusing Trump's recent indictment were celebrating Gov. In fact, as mentioned during the Justice Departments press conference, the indictment does not include any current Limestone County School employees. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Dr. Beth Taylor. The first of the Measure PS projects were completed in summer 2009. The private schools used in the scheme are almost entirely white. Holladays tenure as superintendent will end on October 31. . William Lee Trey Holladay, III formally separated from Athens City Schools in October 2020. As the office responsible for identifying fraud, abuse, and other criminal activity involving U.S. Department of Education funds and programs, ensuring that those who abuse these funds or game the system for their own selfish purposes are stopped and held accountable for their criminal actions is a big part of our mission., Integrity and trust are characteristics of Alabama teachers and administrators. 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. enewscourier.com . Court records show on Tuesday Holladay. Date: 8/14/2023. Corkren faced an additional two-year sentence and up to $250,000 fine for the aggravated identity theft charge. Superintendent Trey Holladay is shown in a photo on the Athens City Schools website. Board of Education members are elected to a four-year term. Example video title will go here for this video. It goes on to allege, "It was a purpose of the conspiracy for Trey Holladay, Deborah Holladay, Carter, Corkren, Tutt, and Sisk to obtain, directly and indirectly, for their own personal use, portions of the increased revenue generated for ACS, LCS, and CCS by the fraudulent enrollment of private school students in the ACS, LCS, and CCS virtual schools.". Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The federal investigation has been ongoing since that time. The public schools in those counties are made up almost entirely of Black students. You can email him at [emailprotected] or follow him on Twitter. Its just wrong, Opinion | Sen. Jay Hovey may have meant well, but he was wrong. Co-defendant William Richard Carter, Jr. is currently set for trial on February 7, 2022. Former Athens City Schools superintendent Trey Holladay has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in a multiyear scheme to defraud the state. According to his. According to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office on December 16, Holladay admitted that he and co-defendant Thomas Michael Sisk conspired to inflate the number of students enrolled at Athens City Schools and Limestone County Schools. Five others were named in Tuesdays indictment. Montgomery, Alabama On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, six individuals appeared in court after being indicted on charges related to the fraudulent enrollment of students in Alabama virtual schools, announced United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr., and Acting Special Agent in Charge Kori Smith of the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Inspector General. Peeples most recently served as an inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. Published on July 22, 2022 at 8:08 am CDT. Former Athens superintendent Trey Hollaway, who pleaded guilty to his role in concocting a scheme to defraud public schools across the state, will spend the next 60 months in federal prison. Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect. The indictment also contains substantive wire fraud charges against Trey Holladay, Deborah Holladay, and Carter. Holladays next court date was scheduled for February 2022. 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. Holladay is accused of purposely scheming private school students and their parents out of millions of dollars for his personal gain. FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector Generals Southeastern Regional Office. All rights reserved (About Us). Alabamas community colleges have experienced an increase in enrollment by at least 5 percent each year since 2020. This page is not available in other languages. Holladays wife, Deborah, was accused in the federal indictment of establishing a bogus consulting company, which the Athens system allegedly paid to locate virtual students. A spokesperson for the FBI confirms that "law enforcement action" was taken at the home of Athens City School Superintendent Trey Holladay on Tuesday morning. Federal officials said the two former superintendents and four other people fraudulently claimed private school students who attended schools in the Black Belt Region, were enrolled full time in Athens City and Limestone County School Districts. The scheme saw educators steal the identities of students in private schools and then use them to bilk public schools out of millions. In connection with the agreements to acquire student information from the private schools, the co-conspirators paid over $600,000 of the money the Athens district received to the participating private schools and their employees and administrators. The private school parents continued to pay tuition to the private schools. It is located 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, and is the third-largest school district in Los Angeles County.
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