On Thursday, a man was sentenced to 52 months in prison for stealing over $2 million from a Texas school district.
According to court documents, 67-year-old Donald Ray Lockard of Georgia stole school district funds and used them for his own personal benefit.
Unknown co-conspirators sent fraudulent emails to the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District comptroller and claimed to be representatives of a financial institution.
"Those fraudulent emails resulted in the diversion of the school district’s bond payments to a different financial account established and controlled by Lockard," said a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
Three different wire transfers to Lockard’s account on Feb. 12 of 2020 totaled $2,013,762.50.
Lockard was ordered to pay $277,957.33 in restitution after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, said a U.S. Attorney’s Office.
"The defendant showed complete disregard for the school district and the children it served while he bilked them out of needed resources and fraudulently used those funds for his own personal financial gain," said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson.
