Georgia school chief resigns after being accused of bribery scheme in Illinois

superintendent of GeorgiaHe is resigning after being charged federally with running a bribery scheme in the third-largest school district and stealing money from a smaller school district in the suburbs. chicago,

The DeKalb County School Board on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Devon Horton, effective Nov. 15. Board members were facing calls to fire Horton.

School board members also voted Wednesday to appoint an auditor to investigate spending under Horton.

Horton is making $360,000 a year. They will be paid through Nov. 15, but will not receive any payments after that date, spokeswoman Carla Parker said.

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

Also convicted 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.

Horton’s attorney, Terry Campbell, has said that Horton “looks forward to addressing his case in court.” lawyers Samuel Ross and Antonio Ross declined to comment. There is no attorney listed for Lewis in court records.

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

The DeKalb County School Board has named former student services chief Norman Sause as acting superintendent.

The indictment alleges that the four men created companies to extort money from the Evanston-Skokie and Chicago school districts and billed them for services they did not provide. In addition to the $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, netting 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 is also accused of stealing more than $30,000 from the Evanston-Skokie district in 2022 and 2023 by using her district purchasing card to make personal purchases. Horton has also been charged with tax evasion because he did not report bribes and personal purchases on his income tax returns.

Due to 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 want funds belonging to all four men to be seized.