Former Georgia schools chief gets 8 years in embezzlement

<p>Former Georgia schools superintendent Linda Schrenko was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison and ordered to pay more than $414,000 in restitution for her role in an embezzlement scheme that helped pay for her face lift and campaign for governor.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ordered Schrenko to repay $414,887.50, and said her prison sentence will be followed by three years supervised probation and 100 days of community service. As Schrenko arrived at the courthouse, officials confiscated her car, the sale of which will be applied to the money she owes.</p><p>Schrenko's attorney, Pete Theodocion, asked the judge to recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that she serve her sentence in a women's facility in Tallahassee, Fla. Theodocion said he expects she must report to prison within four to six weeks.</p><p>Cooper called Schrenko's offenses, "an egregious abuse of the public's trust," and said acts like hers are why the public is losing trust in public officials.</p><p>Schrenko, wearing a tailored black suit with pink lapels and cuffs, made a brief statement to the court: "I would like to thank your honor for a fair trial and the way in which you have treated me."</p><p>After the hearing, prosecutors said they were satisfied with the outcome.</p><p>"The message of the sentence today is that a public official that violates the public trust and breaks federal laws is going to pay severe consequences," said David E. Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.</p><p>As she left the courthouse, Schrenko said, "I'm ready to go. I'm tired." She added, "Obviously I'm sorry. That's all I can say."</p><p>Just before leaving in a sports utility vehicle driven by an unidentified man she said, "I made a lot of mistakes and I trusted people I shouldn't have trusted."</p><p>Asked whether she plans to write a book, Schrenko replied, "I don't know. Who knows? I'll have a lot of time."</p><p>Schrenko's right arm was in a cast. She told reporters she injured her wrist when she fell at home.</p><p>Her sentence was in line with a plea deal that she had struck with prosecutors midway into her trial in May.</p><p>Schrenko, 56, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering in exchange for testifying against her co-defendants. In the binding agreement, she agreed to serve eight years in prison.</p><p>Schrenko's plea deal led to the swift imprisonment of her campaign manager, Merle Temple, with whom she acknowledged having an affair, on charges of obstruction of justice on suspicion of leaking information to Schrenko's lawyers.</p><p>In a plea deal of his own last year, Temple had agreed to testify against Schrenko. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy and theft of public funds and was expected to be a star witness against her.</p><p>In May, Schrenko gave prosecutors a tape of a phone call in which Temple said he would withhold some testimony against her as long as her lawyer didn't "hurt" him, according to a transcript. He has yet to be sentenced.</p><p>Another Schrenko co-defendant, computer firm owner Stephan Botes, was found guilty of conspiracy, theft of federal funds and wire fraud charges. He is set to be sentenced next month.</p><p>Botes' chief financial officer, Peter Steyn, was found innocent of all charges.</p><p>Prosecutors say Schrenko funneled $614,000 in federal Department of Education money to companies owned by Botes, who provided no services. Some of those funds had been intended for state schools for the deaf.</p><p>Schrenko's co-defendants are responsible for contributing to the repayment of the money.</p><p>Part of Temple's plea agreement included an immediate payment of $199,500, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Vineyard. Botes will likely be ordered to share responsibility with Schrenko for paying restitution, Vineyard added.</p><p>The money will go back to the State Department of Education.</p><p>Before Schrenko's trial ended abruptly with her plea deal, two witnesses linked Schrenko and Temple to a scheme to divert payments into Schrenko's campaign. They said checks were made out to individuals _ including relatives, friends and employees _for being part of a political focus group, even though they hadn't participated in one. The recipients were to endorse the check and donate it to Schrenko's campaign.</p><p>Schrenko, an educator from suburban Augusta, made history in 1994 when she became the first woman elected to a statewide, nonjudicial post in Georgia. She was also one of the first Republicans elected to such an office in a state that had been dominated by Democrats since Reconstruction.</p><p>Schrenko was re-elected in 1998, but decided against seeking a third term. Instead, she ran for governor, losing the 2002 Republican primary to Sonny Perdue who went on to win the general election.</p><p>Schrenko's November 2004 indictment made her the state's highest-ranking elected official in decades to face such serious charges. She was indicted on 22 counts of money laundering and 18 other counts ranging from conspiracy to fraud, with each count carrying up to 20 years in prison.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/7/120927