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Press Release

Former Program Director of Supplemental Educational Services Provider to Detroit Public Schools Pleads Guilty to Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan

The former program director of supplemental educational services provider, Priority: My Education pleaded guilty today to federal program fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.                         

Joining McQuade in the announcement were David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Pleading guilty today before United States District Judge Bernard A. Friedman was Theodore Thomas Pride, III, 37 of Detroit. 

According to court records, between 2011 and 2012, Theodore Pride III, as resident agent and program director of Priority: My Education, a company that had been approved by the State of Michigan to provide supplemental educational services to eligible students in Michigan, obtained at least $684, 644 from DPS through a scheme in which he submitted fraudulent invoices for payment to DPS for tutorial services that were never rendered to DPS students.

United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade said, "People who defraud a school system are effectively stealing educational opportunities from children."

Pride faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced on April 11, 2017 at 11:00 am. 

This case was investigated by agents of the FBI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

The FBI Detroit Area Corruption Task Force (DACTF) is led by the FBI Detroit Field Office, and consists of Special Agents and law enforcement officers with the FBI Detroit; the Detroit Police Department; the Michigan State Police; the Michigan Attorney General’s Office; the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development–Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency–Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Department of Transportation–Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security–Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Department of Education–Office of Inspector General; and the U.S. Department of Labor–Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.

Updated December 13, 2016

Topic
Public Corruption