He took the funds from district to feed gambling addiction
By MARK MORRIS The Kansas City Star
Away from the race tracks and plush Nevada betting rooms where he gambled away money meant for teachers’ salaries and supplies, former Pattonsburg school Superintendent Ronnie G. DeShon wept.
On Wednesday, he pleaded for understanding from teachers, parents and students who crowded the federal court gallery in Kansas City.
“I just hope somewhere down the road they’ll forgive me,” said DeShon. “If they don’t, I’ll understand. I can’t forgive myself.”
Few in the crowd seemed in a forgiving mood, and neither was Senior U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs, who sentenced DeShon to 42 months in federal prison. The judge also ordered DeShon, 51, to pay back $854,699 he had stolen from the Pattonsburg R-II School District between 2000 and 2004.
“The people here looking for stiff punishment are appropriately here,” Sachs said. “This is a significant violation of community standards.”
Pattonsburg is about 70 miles northeast of Kansas City. The district serves fewer than 200 students and employs about two dozen teachers, officials said. The district’s budgets during DeShon’s four years as superintendent ran between $1.8 million and $2 million a year.
The district canceled classes Wednesday so residents and employees could attend court, officials said.
Anger underscored testimony from teachers and administrators who spoke about how DeShon had betrayed his employees and students.
Consumer science teacher Vicki Woodward, who no longer works for the district, remembered the day in June 2003 when DeShon appeared on her doorstep, telling her she no longer had a job. That loss meant tight finances for a family with two children in college, she said.
“Mr. DeShon informed me that family and consumer science had been cut because the state had not fully funded the program,” Woodward said. “This man did not care what happened to me or my family. He did not care for our schools and our community.”
Math teacher Sally Sparks said teachers spent their own money on supplies because the district said no funds were available.
“I think of how Mr. DeShon portrayed himself as a hero, saving the district from financial ruin, when he was responsible,” she said. “What he took can never be replaced. He should never have the opportunity to steal from children again.”
DeShon pleaded guilty in March to federal program fraud, admitting that he took the money to feed his gambling addiction. DeShon estimated he made 160 trips and carved out numerous four-day weekends to gamble at horse and dog tracks and wager in swank Las Vegas sports betting rooms, where he said he received “red carpet treatment.”
The embezzling stopped in mid-October 2004, when DeShon drove to Kansas City, walked into the federal courthouse without a lawyer, and confessed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Parker Marshall and two FBI agents.
The timing of that confession was an important issue at Wednesday’s hearing. DeShon and his attorney, Kenneth C. Hensley, argued for a lighter sentence, contending he should be given credit for revealing his crime because other school officials did not yet know the money was missing. Hensley also noted his client was not the target of a criminal investigation when he confessed. Also, after his confession, DeShon cooperated with investigators to clarify the extent of his thefts, Hensley said.
Marshall dismissed such arguments, noting in court filings that DeShon confessed because he believed “his house of cards was collapsing, that discovery was not only likely or imminent, but had already occurred.”
Pattonsburg High School Principal Chris Gannan testified that before DeShon drove to Kansas City he admitted to her he had “hidden” some district money and that a school bookkeeper had “turned him in.”
School district attorney Joe Gall testified that before the confession, he had opened his own investigation into a check DeShon had altered. He also had confirmed a school district account that should have contained more than $700,000 in fact had a balance of only $14. Also, before learning of DeShon’s confession, Gall said he prepared a resignation letter for the superintendent and had asked for an emergency school board meeting to review the district’s finances.
“We learned of the improprieties independently of Mr. DeShon’s disclosure,” Gall said.
School officials said teachers have been hired to replace some of the staff positions cut during DeShon’s tenure. The money he stole has been restored by an insurance company, though the district still is out about $100,000 in legal and auditing fees.
Gall said the district was considering legal action against a Chillicothe accounting firm that audited the district’s books during the period but did not detect DeShon’s thefts.
But Gannan, the high school principal, said the district’s children lost more than dollars and cents.
“They looked up to the man and trusted him,” Gannan said. “Now, it’s total distrust.”
