A former president of a Michigan public school board was charged earlier this month in a $560,000 bribery scheme with a local contractor.
Former Madison District Public Schools Board of Education President Albert Morrison and contractor John David were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit bribery, according to a July 14 U.S. Department of Justice news release. The charges stemmed from David's alleged bribes of more than $560,000 to Morrison in exchange for $3.1 million in school contracts.
"Children and their parents deserve a school system free of corruption," said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison, according to the release. "Today's indictment demonstrates our commitment to ensure that our educational systems put the interests of our kids first."
These bribery charges were added to the April 6 indictment charging Morrison with tax evasion and failure to file tax returns in connection with his failure to report more than $500,000 in income from David. The release reported both men are charged as co-conspirators in a bribery conspiracy count and separately charged with three counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
"It is important that contracts funded by our school systems be awarded through a fair and transparent process, not through deals funded by bribes to those in positions of power," FBI Detroit Field Office Special Agent in Charge James A. Tarasca said in the release. "The FBI prioritizes efforts to expose corruption and we will continue to aggressively investigate these allegations alongside our partners at the IRS and Department of Education Office of Inspector General."
"Honest and law-abiding citizens are fed up with the likes of those who use deceit and fraud to unfairly line their pockets," IRS Detroit Field Office Special Agent in Charge Sarah Kull said in the news release. "Those individuals who engage in this type of financial fraud should know they will not go undetected and will be held accountable."
According to the news release, Morrison and David face up to five years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years for each of the bribery counts. Additionally, Morrison faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years for each count of tax evasion and one year in prison for each count of failure to file tax returns.
