JACKSON – Felicia C. Adams, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, State Auditor Stacey Pickering, and Yessyka Santana, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Southeastern Regional Office announced that:
Edna Goble pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to pay bribes in connection with federal program funds and was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge Michael Mills in Oxford, Mississippi, to 30 months imprisonment. Goble admitted to paying bribes and kickbacks to Harvey Franklin, the former superintendent of the Greenville Public School District, in connection with a contract for reading services between the Greenville Public Schools and Edna Goble’s company, Teach Them to Read, Inc. d/b/a Early Detection Necessary Action.
In addition, Goble was ordered to pay $1,041,432 in restitution to the Department of Education, sentenced to 3 years supervised release following her term of imprisonment, and required to pay a $100 special assessment.
Goble is ordered to report to federal prison on August 18, 2014 at a location to be determined.
“This is one of the more appalling cases that my Office has been involved in since I became State Auditor,” Pickering said. “Ms. Goble and Mr. Franklin worked together to cheat and steal from the students of Greenville, and I am glad both parties are being held accountable for their actions.
“Today’s action shows that Ms. Goble not only knowingly and willfully abused her position of trust for personal gain, but did so at the expense of the educational development of children. That is unacceptable,” Santana said. “Deservedly, like her cohort-in-crime former superintendent Franklin, she will be held accountable for cheating Greenville’s students.”
Adams said, “The actions of Ms. Goble and Mr. Franklin harmed the integrity of our public school system and adversely impacted some of our more vulnerable citizens, the children of the Greenville Public School District. When individuals abuse the public trust, our office will remain steadfast in prosecuting those individuals and ultimately ensuring that justice is served.”
Franklin entered into contracts on behalf of Greenville Public Schools, and paid Goble’s company approximately $1.4 million. Goble made payments to numerous creditors on Franklin’s behalf, which included paying off Franklin’s automobile loan, remodeling and improvements for his home, paying off his personal credit card and paying for the college tuition of Franklin’s children.
Franklin previously pled guilty to a three count information including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, accepting bribes and kickbacks from Goble and embezzlement. He was sentenced to 76 months each on two counts and 60 months on a third count, which he is currently serving in the federal facility in Montgomery, Alabama.
This case was investigated by the Office of the State Auditor, Special Agents of the Department of Education, and the Office of Inspector General and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
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