Richard Garza, former Superintendent of Houston Gateway Academy, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison. He pleaded guilty in September 2019 to taking $250,000.

The charter school is located in the Gulfgate area of Houston. It opened in 1999 with two classrooms. It now has about 2,300 students in three schools. Although over 90% of the students are considered economically disadvantaged, it has the highest average percentage of students meeting state standards in the Houston area.

Garza admitted he awarded a $280,000 no-bid contract in 2014 to a business owned by Ahmed Bokaiyan, an IT employee at the school. The contract was to supply IT equipment and services to a new school not yet constructed.

An audit revealed that Garza sent the business $252,757 before it completed any work. The business sent back $164,381 to Garza’s personal account. Garza used the funds to buy a Nissan Armada SUV and a condo.

Garza was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and restitution of $191,292 to the Texas Education Agency. Bokaiyan had previously pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $156,595 in restitution.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/former-charter-school-official-sent-prison-embezzling-funds