Dr. Crawford Lewis, former DeKalb Schools superintendent, stands in court on Aug. 13 while his lawyer talks to the judge.
Lewis, who left the school district on April 16, 2010, and his co-defendants – former Chief Operating Officer Patricia Reid and her former husband, Anthony Pope – were scheduled to be in court on Aug. 13 for a status hearing.
They are facing charges of running a criminal enterprise that sent millions of dollars to Pope while he was married to Reid and to school system vendors in exchange for cash, sports tickets and other perks.
The 300-page indictment, issued in May 2012, alleges that $80 million in contracts were obtained through fraud and that Pope made more than $2 million on the deals. It includes four counts of racketeering, one count of theft by taking by a government employee, and one count of bribery. It dropped charges against Pope’s former secretary, Cointa Moody, and charges of falsifying a public document against the group.
Lewis is charged with using his public office for illegal private gain and to conceal waste, fraud, abuse and corruption. Lewis, Pope, Reid and Moody were originally indicted in May 2010.
Moody is now expected to testify as a state witness.
At Monday’s hearing, lawyers told DeKalb Superior Court Judge Cynthia J. Becker that they were ready to move forward on the trial but are still exchanging information with DeKalb Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney John Melvin.
Pope’s attorney, John Petrey, said all of the defense attorneys are still in the discovery process, which includes going through 360 boxes of documents.
“We have a little bit of discovery issue that Mr. Melvin and I will be able to solve,” he told Becker. “I need to give him some stuff, he needs to give us some stuff, but we’ll be ready when you tell us to be ready.”
After the hearing, Petrey told the media that it “sounds like” the case will be going to trial soon. “I have every hope and belief that we will try the case this fall,” he said.
Reid was not in court on Aug. 13. Her lawyer, Tony Axam, said he did not receive the notice. She was allowed to show up on Aug. 14.
Complaint to our Dept of Public Safety as to whether the Police even came out are still unanswered. I never saw them.
My Commission Larry Johnson also did not respond for I am white.
And DeKalb 911 Call Center - Good God - Dunwoody was right and smart to pull out.
And as to the DeKalb County Dept of Public Safety, one word, Brookhaven.
Did you send a headshot with your iqnquiry to Larry Johnson? What makes you so sure that you were ignored because of race?