Dr. Horton Indictment Available

Read the indictment and my brief interpretation

The indictment has been published, you can read it here.

The indictment alleges a kickback scheme from August 2020 to June 2023 whereby Dr. Horton awarded professional service contracts to three companies owned by his friends. The government alleges that these companies submitted false invoices for services never rendered and kicked back $81,700 in funds to Horton. The indictment is partially these two stories I wrote, where you can find some of the original documentation:

• District 65 Superintendent Steering Contracts to Business Partners (March 2023)

• Dr. Horton’s Consulting Firm; Worked with CPS, Didn’t Properly Disclose Relationships (April 2023)

Additional allegations include:

• Dr. Horton misused his District 65 procurement credit card (P-Card) for personal expenses including meals, gift cards, vehicle expenses, and personal travel, totaling approximately $30,845.77 from 2022-2023. I wrote about some of these expenses in this story.

• Dr. Horton’s own company, Altering the Education Xpectation LLC, received approximately $10,000 from Chicago Public Schools through a similar fraudulent scheme at Hyde Park Academy High School

• Dr. Horton attempted to evade federal income taxes for 2022 and 2023 by failing to report the P-Card expenses.

Obviously, this is an indictment and he, like everyone else, deserves the opportunity to clear his name.

Contradictions to District Comment

One thing that I find upsetting: the indictment contradicts the District’s own statements to me in this story. Take the case of Asset Protection, LLC. The indictment claims that the defendant, Mr. Ross submitted invoices for work not performed.

24. It was further part of the scheme that SAMUEL ROSS and Asset Protection submitted invoices to District 65 that were false in that they purported to provided certain professionals to District 65 when SAMUEL ROSS knew that those services had not been provided.

And kicked back the full amount to Dr. Horton.

25. It was further part of the scheme that, after HORTON approved and caused the approval of invoices that SAMUEL ROSS and Asset Protection submitted to District 65 and District 65 paid those invoices, SAMUEL ROSS withdrew and caused to be withdrawn money from Asset Protection’s bank account or SAMUEL ROSS’s bank account and paid kickbacks totaling approximately $30,800 to HORTON.

Yet, on March 5, 2023, the District gave me the below comment (the full comment on the story here);

Asset Protection has worked closely with our Buildings and Grounds Department to assess work structures, build a warehouse management system, and strengthen processes for inventory. This falls under the umbrella of loss prevention.

The District gave me similar statements on the other two firms, both of which the indictment alleges did not render services.

The contract with New Flight Academy was entered into for support and strategic consulting on the launch of new elementary athletic programs for fourth and fifth grade students across the district. This contract was under $25K and did not require approval by the Board nor bidding.

In regards to the work performed by Connecting the Dots, this was focused on culture and climate work across the district and relationship building in the wake of the pandemic. This includes training for lunchroom supervisors, culture and climate coordinators, FACE liaisons, and school concierges.

If the indictment is true, it is a big problem that staff were willing to provide false information to reporters and presumably, the Board. They could’ve easily said “we don’t know” or the “contracts are still in progress” but they provided me with what seem like descriptions of fully executed work. Maybe they didn’t know or maybe they were just sharing Dr. Horton’s words, but this seems like a real problem.