Former Orangeburg School District employee David Cortez Marshall was sentenced today to almost three years in prison for defrauding the Orangeburg County School District of more than $550,000, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office District of South Carolina.
“Fraud of any nature is illegal and wrong, but fraud against a public school — in the middle of a pandemic — is unconscionable,” said U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis. “Mr. Marshall’s … restitution order ensures that he’ll be obligated to pay back every penny he stole from the public.”
Marshall, a former media communications specialist employed by the Orangeburg County School District, created a scheme to defraud the district while purchasing remote learning cameras for school classrooms, the release stated.
Through the use of shell companies, fabricated documents, forged signatures and a false identity, Marshall steered the district’s purchasing contracts to companies he created and controlled. He purchased the cameras, then sold them to the school at a substantial markup, the release stated.
Marshall also received funds from the school district for the cameras that he never paid to the seller, the release stated. His scheme was eventually discovered by other school district employees, who confronted Marshall and reported the matter to the FBI for further investigation.
United States District Judge Mary G. Lewis sentenced Marshall to 33 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system. Marshall was also ordered to pay approximately $600,000 in restitution.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews is prosecuting the case.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
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Liz Farrell is the new executive editor at FITSNews. She was named 2018’s top columnist in the state by South Carolina Press Association and is back after taking a nearly two-year break from corporate journalism to reclaim her soul. Email her at liz@fitsnews.com or tweet her @ElizFarrell.
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