Shocker: Grand jury indicts Dekalb ex-Superintendent Crawford Lewis on six counts
Updated at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday
A DeKalb grand jury just indicted former Superintendent Crawford Lewis over irregularities in the state’s third-largest school system’s massive construction program. Indictments were also handed down on Pat Reid, who oversaw construction for the county until she fell from grace from alleged conflicts of interest and sweetheart deals to companies with which her then-husband had ties.
A DeKalb grand jury indicted former school Superintendent Crawford Lewis today on six counts
While Lewis did not have a strong vision for DeKalb’s changing school landscape, I did not expect a six-count indictment. A 33-year veteran of the DeKalb district, Lewis has yet to have his day in court, but I am stunned to see him indicted for racketeering (RICO) charges, theft by a government employee and bribery.
After reading the indictments, it seems to me that Lewis is alleged to have risked his career and his reputation for fairly modest gains, including Masters tickets and free hotel rooms.
According to the breaking news story now in the AJC:
Lewis was indicted on racketeering and other charges, school board Chairman Tom Bowen told the AJC. Former schools chief operating officer Patricia Reid, also known as Pat Pope, was also indicted, along with Reid’s secretary and Reid’s former husband Tony Pope, Bowen said.
District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming announced the indictments at 4:30 p.m.
Lewis faces six counts: four racketeering (RICO) charges , theft by a government employee and bribery.
Patricia Reid faces seven counts: four racketeering charges, theft by a government employee, bribery, false public document
Tony Pope and secretary Cointa Moody each face four RICO counts.
Lewis did not immediately respond to a voicemail left at his home.
Tony Pope’s attorney Calvin Leipold also could not be reached for comment at his law office.
Pat Reid did not immediately return a message left on her cell phone Wednesday afternoon.
Here are the charges:
- Four counts of violating the racketeer influenced and corruption act against Lewis, Reid, Pope and Moody.
- One count of theft by a government employee against Lewis and Reid.
- One count of bribery against Lewis and Reid.
- One count of falsifying public documents against Reid.
Lewis, 56, faces a maximum of 105 years in prison. Reid, also 52, faces up to 115 years in prison, investigators said.
Lewis did not return a message left at his home. His attorney denied the accusations.
“We are disappointed that the district attorney has brought these charges. They are wrong,” attorney Mike Brown told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Dr. Lewis has not committed any crimes. And we are going to fight really, really hard to prove that.”
According to investigators, the scheme had begun in 2006 and involved the three school officials concealing information from the school board, altering documents and giving work to Pope’s architectural firm.
“All of the parties used their positions and the resources of school system to facilitate theft, fraud and obstruction, whether for personal gain or for the benefit of others,” Fleming said. “The money received by Tony Pope was then funneled to Pat Pope.”
Lewis, who was terminated last month, hired Reid as chief operating officer in October 2005 to run the school district’s multi-million-dollar school construction program. At the time, Reid and Pope were still married
When she was hired, the couple was told he could complete one on-going school construction contract but could not work on any additional school projects, Fleming said.
But Lewis and Reid ignored that stipulation, the indictment alleges. The two, along with secretary Moody, 48, conspired to get Pope contracts. This was accomplished by issuing illegal change orders, altering construction projects and leaking information to Pope, all behind the school board’s back, Fleming said.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
219 comments Add your comment
Lee
May 28th, 2010
7:44 am
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, one of the most effective fraud fighting tools is a 1-800-hotline. It’s got to go to an independent third party to protect anonymity and you must follow-up on EVERY call. I don’t know of any school systems who do this, but they regularly spend tens of million$ for a small system and over a BILLION for a large system.
Pay me know or pay a whole lot more later, to paraphrase the old adage.
Back when the news of Pope’s car deal was publicized, there were many of us on this blog who said it was the tip of the iceberg. Back when Lewis’ car deal and “gas-gate” was publicized, there were many of us on this blog who said it was the tip of the iceberg.
But hey, it’s only taxpayer money. Riggghhhhtttt???
former dekalb teacher
May 28th, 2010
9:28 am
I am happy to see this system of things being broken up. I taught for 5 years at Dekalb and I was so sick of P.E. Coaches being promoted to Principals when they have no instructional experience and just know how to talk the talk and use the words differentiated instruction alot. Some of the principals were close buds to Dekalb’s ex-superintendent. They would recieve undeserving promotions when the teachers bust their behinds doing all the work and they took all the credit. Yes, lets begin to sift through Dekalb and get rid of all the crap so Dekalb can really be a Premier County.
StopTheInsanity
May 28th, 2010
10:36 am
Teachers and School Administrators are suppose to set a “Good Example” for our students. For years we have heard that “parents must play a greater role” in the education of their children. I spend “every” night helping with homework. I beleive (as do many proponents of “home schooling) that currently over 50% of teaching is being done by parents anyways! SET THE EXAMPLE: right, the news is full of “great examples”. Everyone makes mistakes? Tell that to the kangaroo court “School Tribunals” that are criminalizing minor disiplinary violations. Kids are losing their “constitutional right” to an education and starting adult life with “criminal records” for minor offenses. School Resourse Officers (SROs) and BOE Police are criminalizing our children, not protecting them. What are Principals afraid of? Take the Police out and put some “Bar Bouncers” in if we really are only concerned with teacher and student safety. It’s no wonder so many young people start college and adult life with “attitude” problems! Stop the STTP (school to prison pipline)!
School adminstrators concetrate on the bad apple teachers! Is the system “setting a good example” for the students? Read the papers! At least a teacher or adminstrator, when arrested, has the right to “Due Process of Law” as required by the 14th Amendement! Our children are not afforded the same when “arrested” for a violation of the “SCHOOL CODE OF CONDUCT”! Talk about double standards. Had I had it to do over, all my children would have been home schooled!!
Angela
May 28th, 2010
8:11 pm
@This is a Fact,
Your information can start with Gwen Keys, next AJC, WSB, etc. There is still more to come with this whole thing. There are more crooks in the DCSS.
Ed
May 29th, 2010
1:20 am
Good people if you don’t have all of the facts please stop offering comments that aren’t backed up with facts.
Cobb Mother, there wasn’t anything remotely related to set asides for these projects. Of the seven or eight projects being investigated the breakdown with respect to race was as follows:
Contractors – one minority general contractor; the other projects were constructed or are currently under construction by majority owned general contractors.
Architects – two minority architects; the other projects were all designed by majority owned architects. Tony Pope is included in this analysis as he was the prime architect for Columbia High School (one of the projects being investigated) prior to his former wife becoming the director of construction for DCSS.
The only color in this equation that should really be considered is U.S. Mint green.
Sick of the corruption
May 29th, 2010
2:53 pm
I hear Ramsey has some competition for his State Senate seat – votedianawilliams.com
Sick of the corruption
May 29th, 2010
2:59 pm
there is someone running against Ramsey – votedianawilliams.com
What A Mess!
May 29th, 2010
7:52 pm
There are Fives sides to this story his side, her side, their side, my side and the TRUTH!
OvenBaked
May 29th, 2010
9:30 pm
I am a former graduate student of Dr. Lewis. I am utterly and totally surprised by this. I remember when he was appointed to the position. He put everything on stop and expressed his gratitude for being selected as Superintendent. He was happy and elated. I can not believe that this happiness was a front for some type of master plan. He did not have this trouble until he became Super. I believe there are others who are the real culprits and he just happened to be in the wrong place and was taken by the scoundrels responsible.
Puttin On The Ritz
May 29th, 2010
11:20 pm
Hey, no doubt Crawford’s sexual activity at the Ritz Carlton in Greensboro was Sex-Ed related.
How can the DA say this activity was not school-related. Sure it was. Crawford was getting a birds and the bees’ education.
High Octane
May 29th, 2010
11:47 pm
Yes, Mr. Lewis is completely innocent. He was most definitely in the wrong place.
His car drove him to the Chevron gas station three times on the same day by mistake. This car should be recalled.
Bad car! Shame on you! No wonder our American car makers are in trouble. Bad car! Bad Chevron gas station, too.
Let’s don’t place blame on Crawford Lewis. He was just taken for a ride to the Chevron gas station by mistake. Poor guy!
And the taxpayers were taken for a ride to the cleaners.
My Hats off to Gwen
May 30th, 2010
1:36 am
It is my pleasure to see CLewis in the spotlight. This is a mean and hateful person. He has shafted many teachers in the County because he had the power to do so. I hope that this investigation makes Patti C. Reed, Ramsey, CynthiaHill, the Black obese female, and many others lose sleep at night. These are horrible individuals who did the dirty work for CLewis. What goes around, comes around and I am happy to see this day! There is a God!
Ole Guy
May 30th, 2010
1:42 am
Could someone please explain the shock part to this story. If Santa was indicted for beating up on the Mrs, shock would be the operative word…if the Easter Bunny was indicted for stealing all the chocolate eggs on Easter Eve, shock would reverberate throughout the land…but comon, this story is anything but a shock to the taxpayers.
Perhaps AJC should require refresher courses in accurate and appropriate choices of descriptives.
Prosperity Gospel.
May 30th, 2010
9:34 am
Can you believe Ms. Moody is a preacher out in Lithonia. Now that is a shocker. A real shocker!
This secretary and part-time preacher must be the first crooked preacher in the history of evangelical Christianity. Well, I know it’s a first in the city of Atlanta and in state of Georgia.
Go ahead and just name me one preacher in Atlanta, or in the state of Georgia, who’s crooked. See, gotcha. Not one of them has a love of money. Dollars don’t mean a thing.
I bet Ms. Moody is a firm believer in the Prosperity Gospel. I would be too. Paychecks amounting to $90,000 in 2009 must have been a gift from God. But who would have thought those big paychecks were receiving a little help from Ms. Moody herself.
I hope Ms. Moody can get some much-needed spiritual guidance from well-respected preachers like Creflo Dollar.
1motherlesschild
May 30th, 2010
1:14 pm
Dear Dekalb voter, No they did not get their jobs because they were African American. I do agree that “racism” is the root cause of this malady. Racist power brokers love to promote incompetent “African Americans” that they can manipulate for their own purposes. And do not dare suggest that the administrations of Hallford and Freeman were not corrupt. As a matter of fact C.L. was groomed under Hallford.
Prosperity Gospel
May 30th, 2010
2:59 pm
Cointa Moody is listed as a minister of some church out in Lithonia. Apparently she does some preaching when she’s not working and super busy running errands for Pat Pope Reid. Ms. Moody is a go-getter.
I’m sure Ms. Moody is a firm believer in the Prosperity Gospel. Amen! “Give and you shall receive.” Ms. Moody did real good on the receiving end in 2009. To the tune of over $90,000. Not to mention all of the freebies.
“Give and you shall receive.”
Dekalbite@1motherlesschild
May 30th, 2010
6:22 pm
“And do not dare suggest that the administrations of Hallford and Freeman were not corrupt. As a matter of fact C.L. was groomed under Hallford.”
You’re got some excellent points.
Hallford established 16 area superintendents each with their own very highly paid content coordinators and Assistant Principal coordinator, secretary, etc. Each area superintendent was supposed to be accountable for his/her own area. The trouble was they kept switching schools in and out of areas and then he started switching area superintendents out of areas (into new made up positions) and appointing new area superintendents, etc. No one was ever in the position long enough to be accountable (sound familiar?).
The Central Office zoomed overnight. Teachers were so excited to get these lucrative jobs. The pay was more than they ever thought they would make in education. Some did complain that all they ever did was meet, meet and meet some more – but the money was great.
Within a few years of musical chairs, this reporting system was discontinued due to a budget crunch. I seem to remember they let 200 parapros go and I mentally calculated that the budget for these by now reduced in number teams far outweighed the salaries of the 200 parapros (sound familiar?).
The members of the “teams” were so worried – they might be sent back to teach with a teacher’s salary. One I knew took an Assistant Principal position in anticipation that she needed to grab something that was available while the gettin’ was good. She need not have worried. By then alliances had been formed, and power centers had been established. The Central Office was reorganized and all of the coordinator and administrative support personnel were saved. They were quietly absorbed back into the money pit the Central Office had become.
This huge increase in non-teaching personnel became apparent during the recession of the early 200’s (2002-03) much like this Great Recession has laid bare our current overstaffing and overpayment of non-teaching jobs.
This is what Johnny Brown tried to address in the form of an independent audit by Ernst and Young which concluded that over 2,500 non-teaching personnel were being overpaid by $14,800,000 a year and was presented to the BOE spring, 2004. Since Freeman and and Hallford were the ones who had increased these non-teaching personnel, we can lay that squarely at their doorstep.
Johnny Brown was moved out within a few months of the audit presentation to the BOE, and Lewis came in. Lewis disputed the independent audit’s conclusions saying only $1,800,000 in annual overpayments were being eaten by the taxpayers. He didn’t think it was fair to do any adjustments so the audit and thus Dr. Brown’s efforts were for naught.
Most of this audit information is in BOE minutes on the DCSS BOE website except the original meeting where Dr. Brown has the Ernst and Young consultant presenting their conclusion about the $14,000,000 in overpayments to non-teaching personnel. That meeting and the supporting documents (the actual audit) is nowhere to be found on the BOE site. Jen Sansbury, an AJC reporter, reported on this meeting so you can find it in the AJC archives. I could only find her article she wrote the next day April 2, 2004 about this meeting.
ron
May 30th, 2010
11:40 pm
There is so much corruption in the Dekalb County school system it would be difficult to recruit a verifiable candidate to come to the county.Anyone who researches Dekalb County would find a county with a history of corruption and violence involved by corrupt officials,why risk a reputation to become embroiled in corruption.Too many school officials and administrators are protected by laws and charters protecting their jobs,it would take years to clean out these individuals with what i’m sure would be followed by tons of lawsuits.overall the economy and down market in the housing industry has really affected the revenues of the county and it’s the main root as to why the county cannot afford to keep a lot of these jobs that were created for cronies.A significant number of assistant principals and high level administrator jobs need to be eliminated because they serve no purpose or function other than a reward of cronyism.in middle schools each grade level has an assistant principal when each school should have only one assistant principal.There is just too much pork financially that’s being rewarded with little results.Too many of Dekalb’s scools are under performing and the administrative staff remains or are shuffled off to another school with no results of school performance being turned around.
george
June 1st, 2010
9:22 pm
teachparent be careful when you say central office, because now central office covers the service center, bus services,truck services and transportation which were never part of central office we became part of central office when Crawford needed people to lay off.