Two former school superintendents and a schoolteacher were sentenced on June 2 for stealing almost $400,000 from the Department of Education. The prosecution was part of the Trump Administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Mario Willis, 58, of Southaven, Mississippi, was sentenced on April 22 in federal court in Aberdeen before Judge Sharion Aycock. Willis had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle federal program funds and received a sentence of twenty months in federal prison beginning June 15. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $393,300 in restitution.
Earl Joe Nelson, 57, of Biloxi, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle federal program funds and was sentenced on May 13 by Judge Aycock to fourteen months in federal prison starting July 13. Nelson will also serve three years supervised release and must pay $143,300 in restitution. Monekea M. Smith-Taylor, 53, of St. Louis, Missouri—who pleaded guilty to the same charge—was sentenced by Judge Aycock to sixteen months in prison with three years supervised release and ordered to pay $250,000 restitution.
According to court documents, Mario Willis served as superintendent for Hollandale School District; from July 2019 through May 2022 Joe Nelson was superintendent at Clarksdale Municipal School District before becoming superintendent at Leake County School District; Monekea Smith-Taylor worked as a teacher in St. Louis. Prosecutors said that Willis and Nelson used their positions as superintendents—and together with Smith-Taylor—embezzled public funds for personal enrichment.
U.S. Attorney Scott Leary said, “This administration has emphasized the investigation and prosecution of those who steal taxpayer dollars. The embezzlement of school funds is just the type of crime the National Fraud Enforcement Division is calling on us to emphasize. We must remain diligent to ensure education dollars go where intended, to our children.”
Jamila Davis, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General Eastern Regional Office, said: “Mr. Willis abused his position of trust for personal gain… The OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who misappropriate education funds for their own selfish purposes.” Shad White, Mississippi State Auditor, stated: “Thank you to my team that helped uncover the facts on this case and to the US Attorney’s Office for prosecuting… We will continue …to hold anyone who steals taxpayer funds accountable.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clayton A. Dabbs prosecuted the case.
On April 7 this year the Department of Justice announced creation of its National Fraud Enforcement Division whose mission is investigating and prosecuting fraud involving taxpayer dollars—a core effort supporting President Trump’s Task Force chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.