Georgia school chief resigns after indictment alleging kickback scheme in Illinois

ATLANTA (AP) — The superintendent of Georgia’s third-largest school district is resigning after being indicted on federal charges alleging he ran a kickback scheme and stole money from a smaller school district in suburban Chicago.

The DeKalb County school board on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Devon Horton effective Nov. 15. Board members had been facing calls to fire Horton.

School board members also voted Wednesday to hire an auditor to examine spending under Horton.

Horton has been making $360,000 a year. He will be paid through Nov. 15, said spokesperson Carla Parker, but will receive no payments after that date.

A federal grand jury in Chicago indicted Horton last week on 17 counts including wire fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. The indictment alleges Horton issued more than $280,000 in contracts to three friends and received more than $80,000 in kickbacks from 2020 through 2023 while he was superintendent of the Evanston-Skokie school district. That district had 5,800 students in grades K-8 last year.

Indicted along with Horton were three other men who prosecutors allege were part of the scheme: Antonio Ross of Chicago; Samuel Ross of Berwyn, Illinois; and Alfonzo Lewis of Chicago.

A lawyer for Horton, Terry Campbell, has said Horton “is eager to address his case in court.” Lawyers for Samuel Ross and Antonio Ross have declined to comment. No lawyer is listed for Lewis in court records.

Horton was supposed to appear in federal court for his arraignment Wednesday, but it has been postponed until Oct. 23.

The DeKalb County school board has named former Chief of Student Services Norman Sauce as acting superintendent.

The indictment alleges that the four men created companies and billed for services they didn’t provide in order to bilk money from the Evanston-Skokie and Chicago school districts. In addition to $283,500 from Evanston-Skokie, the indictment alleges that Antonio Ross, then principal of Hyde Park Academy High School in Chicago, issued a fraudulent contract to a Horton-controlled company that netted Horton $10,000.

Horton tried to hire Antonio Ross after Horton became superintendent in DeKalb County, but Ross declined the job amid questions about the business relationship between the two men.

Horton also faces charges that he stole more than $30,000 from the Evanston-Skokie district in 2022 and 2023 by using his district purchasing card to make personal purchases. Horton is also charged with tax evasion over allegations that he didn’t report the kickbacks and personal purchases on his income tax returns.

Because of the large amount of money allegedly stolen and the fact that Horton was a public official, he could face more than 10 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines if convicted.

Prosecutors seek to have all four men forfeit the money in question.