A pair of former Mississippi public school superintendents will spend time in prison for their involvement in embezzling nearly $400,000 in federal funding.
Former Clarksdale Municipal School District superintendent Earl Nelson was sentenced to 14 months in prison is ordered to serve three years of supervised release, while having to pay $143,300 in restitution. Ex-Hollandale School District superintendent Mario Willis was sentenced to 20 months behind bars and is ordered to serve three years of supervised release, while having to pay $393,300 in restitution.
Nelson and Willis, according to court documents, used their positions to enter into inflated consulting contracts and generate payments for services that were never provided. The two worked alongside Monekea Smith-Taylor in the conspiracy. She was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution.
“This administration has emphasized the investigation and prosecution of those who steal taxpayer dollars,” U.S. Attorney Scott Leary said “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.”
From November 2021 to June 2023, at the direction of Willis, the Hollandale School District paid approximately $94,400 to Ira Reed Consulting Inc. and N17 Group LLC for the personal benefit of Nelson.
From November 2021 to May 2022, at the direction of Nelson, the Clarksdale Municipal School District paid approximately $25,400 to K&S Enterprises LLC and ALM Brothers LLC for the personal benefit of Willis. Then, from January 2023 to May 2023, at the direction of Nelson, the Leake County School District paid approximately $23,500 to K&S Enterprises LLC again, which again benefitted Willis.
Many of the invoices used for the payments were identical with only the names changed, as noted in court records. Nelson often used the same invoices generated by Willis, changed the name, and sent them back to the Hollandale School District for payment to Nelson.
In addition to the conspiracy with Nelson, Willis used his position as superintendent to generate payments to Erudition Consulting Company, a company owned and controlled by Smith-Taylor, for consulting services that were either overcharged or underdelivered.
After receiving payment, Smith-Taylor would meet Nelson in person to provide him with a cash payment, often exactly half of what she had been paid by the Hollandale School District. From June 2021 to May 2023, at the direction of Willis, the Hollandale School District paid approximately $250,902 to Smith-Taylor’s company. At the time, Smith-Taylor was working as a school teacher in the St. Louis, Missouri, area.
“Thank you to my team that helped uncover the facts on this case and to the US Attorney’s Office for prosecuting,” Mississippi State Auditor Shad White said. “We will continue to work as hard as we can to hold anyone who steals taxpayer funds accountable.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clayton A. Dabbs is prosecuting the case.
