By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General announced the arrest Wednesday of Dr. Deann K. Stone, coordinator of special education for Lowndes County Public Schools and the former Director of Federal Programs for the State Department of Education, and her husband, Dave Stone, an employee of Information Transport Solutions Inc., on felony state ethics charges.

Dr. Stone, 50, and her husband, 54, of Wetumpka, both surrendered at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, the Special Prosecutions Division partnered with agents and auditors in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General in an investigation into the allocation of $49,000,000 in federal grant money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for failing Alabama schools.

The Office of Inspector General’s February 2012 Audit Report found a conflict of interest related to the 2010 award of Recovery Act School Improvement Grant funds to local education agencies.

Prosecutors presented evidence to a Montgomery County Special grand jury on Tuesday, Aug. 20, resulting in the Stones’ indictment. Specifically, the indictment charges Dr. Stone and her husband with the following five state ethics law violations:

“Count 1 charges Deann Stone and Dave Stone with violating the state ethics law by intentionally using Dr. Stone’s official position as Director of Federal Programs to obtain personal gain for themselves or Information Transport Solutions, Inc., through the allocation and funding of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Title I, Part A, 1003(g) School Improvement Grant to the Lowndes County School System;

“Count 2 charges Deann Stone and Dave Stone with violating the state ethics law by intentionally using Dr. Stone’s official position as Director of Federal Programs to obtain personal gain for themselves or Information Transport Solutions, Inc., through the allocation and funding of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Title I, Part A, 1003(g) School Improvement Grant to the Marengo County School System;

“Count 3 charges Deann Stone and Dave Stone with violating the state ethics law by intentionally using Dr. Stone’s official position as Director of Federal Programs to obtain personal gain for themselves or Information Transport Solutions, Inc., through the allocation and funding of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Title I, Part A, 1003(g) School Improvement Grant to the Coosa County School System;

“Count 4 charges Deann Stone and Dave Stone with violating the state ethics law by intentionally using a state computer, a state email account, the human labor and/or the time of Dr. Stone and another state employee, or documents and/or materials created by state employees, for their private or business benefit through the allocation and funding of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Title I, Part A, 1003(g) School Improvement Grant to the Coosa County School System; and

“Count 5 charges Deann Stone and Dave Stone with violating State Ethics law by intentionally soliciting or receiving meals, transportation, and hotel expenses in Boston, Massachusetts from Cambium Learning, Inc., for themselves for the purpose of influencing official action.”

Strange said, “I want to thank the Office of Inspector General for performing a thorough audit of the federal stimulus money intended to help struggling Alabama schools and for partnering with my office to investigate this matter. We will continue to work with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to maximize our resources to more effectively combat crimes of public corruption.”

Yessyka Santana, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (OIG) Southeastern Regional Office said, “Today’s action alleges that Dr. Stone and her husband abused their positions of trust for personal gain, and that is unacceptable. OIG will continue to aggressively pursue those who misappropriate education funds for their own purposes. America’s students and taxpayers deserve nothing less.”

According to the Attorney General’s Office, if convicted, both defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and fines of $30,000 for each of the five counts in the indictment.

The Attorney General commended Special Prosecutions Chief Miles M. Hart, Deputy Attorney General Mike Duffy, Investigators in the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division, and Special Agents and Auditors of the United States Department of Education, Office of Inspector General.

Dr. Daniel Boyd, superintendent of education for Lowndes County Public Schools, confirmed that Stone turned herself in.

He said there was an indictment and she was indicted on some dealing that took place while she was working for the state Department of Education.
“An indictment is only an accusation,” Boyd said. “She hasn’t been found guilty of anything at this particular point.”

Boyd confirmed Stone is still working with the Lowndes County BOE.
“She is still working with us. She hasn’t done anything here in our district that’s wrong.”

When asked for comment, Boyd said, “Dr. Deann Stone has done an outstanding job. She’s a very smart, hardworking lady, and we appreciate her contributions to our district.”

The Signal was unsuccessful in its attempts to contact Stone for comment.
No more information is available at this time.