DALLAS - Evetta Galloway Griffin, 49, of Grand Prairie was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to nine months in federal prison. U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made today’s announcement.
Griffin pleaded guilty in December 2016 to one count of theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. Judge Boyle ordered Griffin to pay $129,196.48 in restitution. Griffin was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on September 6, 2017.
According to documents filed in the case, Griffin, a/k/a Evette Griffin, was the Director of Facilities and Administration for the Child Care Group (CCG) until late March 2015. The CCG is a non-profit corporation that receives federal grant funding to provide, among other things, Head Start services to promote the school readiness of young children from low-income families in the Dallas area. Together, Head Start and Early Head Start programs support the comprehensive development of children from birth to age five, in centers, child care partner locations and in their own homes.
Griffin had many duties at CCG that were related to the operation of their child care centers, as well as other responsibilities related to the administration of the corporate office and the procurement process related to federal grants.
As part of the scheme, Griffin created and executed an embezzlement, theft and fraud scheme in which she fraudulently billed CCG for fictitious printing services allegedly provided by A-1 Express Co or A-1 Express Inc. In fact, between April 25, 2011 and Jan. 30, 2015, Griffin submitted approximately 100 fraudulent invoices to CCG that they paid. Griffin usually converted the checks that were made payable to A-1 Express Co or A-1 Express Inc. to cash, ultimately receiving approximately $115,000 from her embezzlement scheme.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG). First Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham prosecuted.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
