Defendant Used Her Position At DISD To Cause Approximately $160,000 In Unauthorized Payments To Co-Conspirator
DALLAS - A former employee with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and her co-conspirator, who each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, have been sentenced, announced John Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Maricella Reed, 41, who was employed by the DISD as a data specialist in the worker’s compensation section of the district’s Risk Management Department, was sentenced in March by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 24 months in federal prison.
Today, Judge Fitzwater sentenced Reed’s co-conspirator, Adrian Bevelle, 32, to 39 months in federal prison. They were ordered to pay, jointly and severally, more than $161,000 in restitution. Reed is currently serving her sentence; Bevelle must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 16, 2015.
According to documents filed in the case, from May 2009 to May 2011, Reed used her position to cause unauthorized payments be issued to Bevelle. Bevelle was not a DISD employee nor was he a worker’s compensation claimant; he was not entitled to any benefits from the DISD worker’s compensation program.
Reed altered information sent to Accounts Payable, substituting Bevelle’s name in place of legitimate claimants and adding Bevelle’s name and payment amounts to the list of legitimate claimants. Reed also created and submitted payment voucher forms for Bevelle in various amounts. Based on the information Reed provided, Accounts Payable issued checks to Bevelle and mailed the checks to him at various addresses in Dallas and Irving. Bevelle received, endorsed and cashed the checks at various locations.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Gividen and Michelle Allen-McCoy prosecuted.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
