JACKSON, Miss.–Former Leake County superintendent of education Earl Joe Nelson, 57, currently of Biloxi, was sentenced to one year and two months in federal prison and ordered to pay back $143,000 in federal grant money after pleading guilty to embezzling the money.
Nelson was part of a trio of conspirators, according to federal prosecutors, who used their positions to hire and pay each other as consultants, using federal program money.
Mario Wilson, 58, of Southaven , former superintendent of Hollandale Schools, got the harshest sentence at 20 months in federal prison and was ordered to repay $393,000.
Another conspirator, Monekea Smith-Taylor, 53, of St. Louis, Missouri, was ordered to pay back a quarter million dollars and spend 16 months in federal prison, said U.S. Atty. Scott Leary.
