DESOTO, Texas — A now-former Texas school district employee pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on July 12, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Terry Lynn Sanders of the DeSoto Independent School District admitted using a school district credit card to make 30 payments embezzling over $250,000 to a company independent of the school district, a press release from the Department of Justice read.
The 57-year-old formerly held the title of director of energy management for DeSoto ISD.
When Sanders paid the unnamed company, he would receive a kickback for each payment. Officials said the kickback totaled around $100,000 in all to Sanders.
Sanders additionally admitted his co-conspirator nor his company were approved and contracted with the district as a vendor or actually performed the work the company was supposedly paid to do.
Officials said Sanders would made seven separate payments to a personal bank account of around $17,500 through a non-existent vendor. He currently faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted.
The FBI of Dallas conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch is prosecuting the case, officials said.
