Phoenix man helped divert hundreds of thousands from college students to fund lavish way of life, Prosecutors say

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix man allegedly used $8 million in funds meant for college students to purchase luxurious gadgets, together with a $30,000-a-month rental in Miami, in response to federal prosecutors.

Jonathan Larry Ballew, 62, of Phoenix, and Leondo Ramone Davenport, 50, of Cincinnati, have been arrested Thursday morning by federal brokers. A federal grand jury indicted the pair on costs together with wire fraud and cash laundering.

Davenport served as superintendent of Dohn Community High School in Cincinnati from 2015 to 2019. He later ran the college via a restricted legal responsibility firm from 2019 till 2024. Dohn was a group college, which beneath Ohio legislation is a public college that operates independently of a neighborhood college district.

Prosecutors stated Ballew arrange at the very least 4 corporations that claimed to offer instructional providers, staffing, expertise and development work to the college. Between 2021 and 2024, Ballew allegedly despatched Dohn pretend invoices via these corporations. Davenport allegedly accepted cost of these invoices after which obtained kickbacks from Ballew in return.

In complete, investigators stated Davenport licensed greater than $8 million in funds to Ballew’s corporations, and Ballew paid greater than $4 million of that cash again to Davenport.

Prosecutors stated the 2 males used the cash to pay for luxurious automobiles and rental houses. In one instance, court docket paperwork say Davenport and Ballew signed a two-year lease in October 2023 for a trip property close to Miami that value $30,000 a month.

“We’re putting an end to fraudsters exploiting public trust and profiting off of the American taxpayer,” stated U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for the Southern District of Ohio.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, who leads the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, stated the scheme took cash meant for college students.

“Education dollars exist to support the learning and development of American children — not to fund the lifestyles of unscrupulous school officials,” McDonald stated.

Both males face a wire fraud cost, which carries a most sentence of 20 years in jail, and a cost of participating in financial transactions with cash obtained illegally, which carries as much as 10 years.

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