Feds: School Chief Took Bribe From ISP Vendor
Posted on Tuesday, 2 of June , 2009 at 7:37 pm
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH—A Grand Rapids, Mich., grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging a former school superintendent with engaging in a conspiracy to accept a bribe from a vendor and to deprive his former employer and the citizens of Michigan of his honest services in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) E-Rate Program.
The former superintendent was also charged with obstructing justice in relation to the Department of Justice’s investigation into potential fraud and competitive bidding violations relating to E-Rate Program funding applications in Michigan.
According to the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Mich., Bradley J. Hansen, who served as the superintendent of the Montcalm Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) from October 1993 to Jan. 1, 2003, was charged with conspiring with the owner of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to sign a three-year Internet service contract with the ISP in exchange for receipt of $60,000 in free goods and services. Hansen deprived MAISD and the citizens of Michigan of his honest services, prosecutors said.
The three-year contract was valued at a total of approximately $1.6 million. The conspiratorial conduct allegedly began in 2001 and ran at least until June 14, 2004, affecting needy schools throughout western Michigan. Hansen is also charged with obstructing justice in September 2007 when he was interviewed regarding E-Rate Program fraud in Michigan.
The Schools and Libraries Universal Service Fund, a federally-funded program known as E-Rate, was created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. E-Rate is a program through which the Universal Services Administrative Company, a not-for-profit corporation, acting under oversight of the FCC, subsidizes the provision of Internet access and telecommunications services, as well as internal computer and communications networks to economically disadvantaged schools and libraries.
As a result of the Antitrust Division’s investigation into fraud and anticompetitive conduct in the E-Rate program, a total of seven companies and 18 individuals have pleaded guilty or have been convicted and found guilty or entered civil settlements. Those companies and individuals have paid, agreed to pay, or been sentenced to pay criminal fines and restitution totaling more than $40 million. Thirteen individuals have been sentenced to serve jail time.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. The maximum fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine. 6-2-09
Category: Crime, Education, Internet
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