On June 6, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee announced in a press release that two Kentucky businessmen “have been convicted of federal crimes and sentenced for a decade long scheme to defraud the… E-rate program.” Charles A. “Chuck” Jones and Mark J. Whitaker, both of Murray, Kentucky, were convicted in a scheme spanning nearly ten years in which businesses they owned paid kickbacks to a consultant working with schools in Missouri and Tennessee.
According to the press release, “Jones, his employee Mark J. Whitaker, and the schools’ E-rate consultant, made false statements and submitted fabricated documents regarding the required copays and the program’s fair and open bidding process. Jones used the victim schools as a vehicle to fraudulently obtain money from the E-rate program. The loss to the E-rate program was approximately $6.9 million.”
Jones was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and three years supervised release, and was ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution. Whitaker was sentenced to one year of probation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office press release may be viewed here.
