Another pleads guilty in embezzlement scheme at Lessie Bates House in East St. Louis
A second person involved in a scheme to embezzle more than $250,000 from the Lessie Bates Neighborhood House in East St. Louis has pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Jeremy Turner, 31, of Dallas, Texas appeared in the U.S. Court of the Southern District of Illinois in Benton Thursday to tell federal Judge Staci Yandle that he is guilty of collecting payments for services that were never provided then lying about it to federal investigators.
He’ll be sentenced on April 26.
Christopher K. Coleman, who benefited from the services provided by the Lessie Bates House growing up then later became its executive director in 2016, already pleaded guilty to his role at the top of the scheme last October.
Operating through a company called Teach Me Technology, Turner billed the Lessie Bates Neighborhood House in excess of $40,000, which Coleman paid using federal grant funds, according to the charging documents. The proceeds from those payments were then split with Coleman, the charges state.
Turner assisted Coleman in creating and submitting the false invoices to Lessie Bates Neighborhood House, according to the charges. From those invoices, Turner received separate payments from the Lessie Bates House in the amount of $13,008.16 and $27, 195.50.
Then, when the scheme was uncovered, Turner lied to a federal agent about the kickbacks to Coleman.
The federal Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force, which is made up of agents with the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and a federal task force officer with Illinois State Police investigated the scheme. The investigation also resulted in charges of making false statements to a federal agent against Tiffany Taylor, 37, of Maryville.
Remaining indictment
According to the indictment, Lessie Bates House helped administer a federal grant to a Cahokia School District 187 after-school program between 2015 and 2018. A “significant number” of Apple products that included Apple watches, iPads and laptop computers were purchased by the Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House and provided to people associated with the after-school program.
Taylor, a grant manager and writer for District 187, lied to a federal agent when she denied that she had requested the Apple watches, the indictment alleges.
Federal prosecutor Norman R. Smith prosecuted the case against Coleman and Turner. Donnell Smith represented Turner.
Coleman’s history
The website of the Lessie Bates Neighborhood House says the nonprofit, faith-based agency’s mission is “to improve the quality of life for residents of all ages by providing quality early childhood development services, comprehensive youth services, individual and family support services, services to older adults and housing economic development services, which will help move individuals and families out of poverty.”
After he was named the executive director of Lessie Bates in 2016, Coleman told the BND, “I am excited and humbled to have grown up in poverty in East St. Louis and attended East St. Louis District 189 and now lead the agency that provided my family hope when I was a young boy.”
Coleman resigned in January 2018. Tax records from 2016 show that Coleman’s annual salary was $102,000 and that he received other compensation worth $16,200, according to the latest Form 990 on file with the watchdog group GuideStar.
The tax records show that Lessie Bates had $9 million in revenue in 2016, when contributions and grants totaled $7.6 million.
Embezzling from an organization that receives federal funds is a felony offense, punishable by up to 10 year in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Making a false statement carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 11:40 AM.
