ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) — Former Greenville Schools Superintendent Harvey Franklin Sr. has pleaded guilty to overpaying the owner of a Conyers, Ga., reading company and getting more than $47,000 back in bribes and kickbacks.
Franklin pleaded guilty Thursday to three charges carrying up to a total of $750,000 in fines and 25 years in prison. He also agreed to forfeit his house and truck.
A bill of information says the school system paid $1.4 million to Edna Goble’s Teach Them To Read Inc., and Goble paid $36,000 on Franklin’s truck loan, $9,400 on his home improvements and $1,900 on his American Express bill.
Goble was not charged. In February, she said she provided everything she was paid for.
Attorney Lisa Ross says Judge Sharion Aycock did not set a sentencing date for Franklin.
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.
