Four plead guilty in federal social program scam

• By DAVID J. MITCHELL
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Aug 21, 2008 - Page: 3B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Four former employees of a federally funded workforce program have pleaded guilty to federal fraud or theft charges, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans said Wednesday.

The workforce program is administered by the Tangipahoa Parish school system and overseen by a separate board.

The convictions come after a 3‰-year investigation into the program and fraud and kickback schemes connected with local private child care and social service providers funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or both.

Aimed at helping Tangipahoa Parish’s needy families and children, three providers tied to the former workforce employees garnered them illegal proceeds totaling a combined $297,186 before kickbacks that also went to one of them, court records show and prosecutors said.

The Rev. Lafete Tucker, 45, of Amite; Janice Fultz-Gardner, 45, of Kentwood; and Gregory Vernon, 36, of Baton Rouge, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk on the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States, prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday. 

Co-defendant Shirley Freeman, 50, of Amite, pleaded guilty before Africk Aug. 7 on the charge of theft from employment and training funds, court records show.

Occurring variously between 2001 to 2005, the frauds included conspiracies to submit false or duplicate payment vouchers for child care services and related expenses for the following: Magnified Youth Center, owned by Tucker; Building Blocks Early Learning Center, owned by Gardner; and Cribs to Crayons Early Learning Center, owned by Freeman, prosecutors said.

Also, Vernon was paid with bogus vouchers to DHHS for counseling he never did for Tucker’s Magnified Youth Center. As a workforce employee, Vernon got more than $7,360 in kickbacks from Freeman to authorize false vouchers for her center, court records show. 

Louisiana Workforce Investment Act — District 20 is a 10-parish workforce program where the four worked variously between 1985 and 2006, school officials said. At least three were client service managers as the schemes unfolded.

The workforce program helps needy residents get job training and, at the time, supportive services, including child care.

As client service managers, Tucker, Gardner and Vernon negotiated contracts with private providers that offered supportive services and lined up job trainees with programs, prosecutors allege.

Freeman stopped working for the program in 1995, school officials said. It’s not clear what she did for District 20.

Tucker, Gardner and Vernon face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release, prosecutors said. Freeman faces up to two years in prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release.