A Tyrone couple has been sentenced on bribery and fraud charges involving the federal “E-Rate” program in the Atlanta public school system.

Arthur Scott, 47, was sentenced in U.S. District Court Sept. 28 to three years and one month in federal prison, three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $333,529 in restitution in connection with a bribery scheme in the E-Rate program, according to U.S. Attorney representative Patrick Crosby. Evelyn Meyer Scott, 42, was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $333,529 in restitution for conspiring to commit fraud and deprive the citizens of Atlanta and Atlanta Public Schools (APS), Crosby said.

According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court, the “E-Rate” program was created by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and is administered by the Universal Service Company, a non-profit corporation, under the auspices of the Federal Communications Commission. The E-Rate program provides funding to economically disadvantaged schools and libraries for telecommunications services, Internet access and communications network infrastructure.

Between May 2001 and February 2003, the Scott couple received $333,529 from various APS vendors who were seeking to do business with the school district. The defendants deposited nearly $300,000 of the funds into a joint bank account they owned, and used the funds for their own personal expenses, Crosby said. As technology director, Arthur Scott had managerial responsibilities relating to the APS E-rate program, including the selection of vendors for APS’ E-Rate and other technology related projects. APS vendors received millions of dollars for E-Rate work. For example, in August 2002, Arthur Scott accepted a $37,917 payment from Multimedia Communication Services Corporation, a vendor intending to be influenced and rewarded for supporting the vendor’s interests in connection with the school district’s E-Rate program, Crosby said. Scott, along with his wife Evelyn, who worked in the Atlanta Public Schools Information Services Department, also devised a scheme to defraud Atlanta Public Schools of their honest services and its right to their loyal, faithful, disinterested and unbiased service, said Scott.

“The sentences imposed in this case should serve as another warning that taking payoffs is not the way for government officials to do business on behalf of the public they serve,” Nahmias said. “School system employees must maintain the same high standard of honesty and fair play for themselves as the schools set for their students.

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