(MANSFIELD, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that two defendants who pleaded guilty to charges accusing them of improperly spending scholarship funds meant for Mansfield Senior High School student athletes have been ordered to serve a year in prison.
The two defendants, plus a third individual, were also ordered to pay a combined total of more than $74,000 in restitution in connection with the diverted scholarship funds.
"Together, these defendants drained and terminated the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Scholarship Trust, denying many student athletes the opportunity to obtain scholarships to support their education," said Attorney General DeWine. "We are pleased that these individuals are now being held accountable for their actions."
The former president and two former trustees for the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Booster Club, now known as the Richland All Sports Booster Club, were sentenced this afternoon by Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge James DeWeese.
- Kendall Clemons, a former trustee for the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Booster Club, was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty last month to charges of complicity to attempted aggravated theft, grand theft, complicity to grand theft, complicity to attempted theft, complicity to attempted money laundering, and filing incomplete, false, and/or fraudulent returns. She was ordered to pay $26,025 in restitution for her role in diverting money from the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Scholarship Trust, and she was also ordered to pay the Social Security Administration a separate restitution of $67,770 for improperly accepting disability payments.
- William Clemons, a former trustee for the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Booster Club, was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty last month to charges of complicity to attempted aggravated theft and filing incomplete, false and/or fraudulent returns. William Clemons, who is also a retired Mansfield police officer, was ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution for his role in diverting money from the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Scholarship Trust.
- Cheryl Patrick, former president of the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Booster Club, received two years of probation after pleading guilty last month to charges of attempted filing of incomplete, false, and/or fraudulent returns. She was ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution for her role in diverting money from the Mansfield Tyger All Sports Scholarship Trust.
A civil action previously filed by the Attorney General's Office in connection with this case is still pending. The $74,025 in restitution ordered in connection with the scholarship fund will be deposited into an escrow account established by the Court as a result of the civil action. The Court will determine how to distribute the funds at the conclusion of the civil proceedings.
"While we will never be able to make up for missed scholarship opportunities in the past, we are hopeful that all of the restitution ordered into the escrow account today will eventually be put to use for future high school students," said Attorney General DeWine.
The defendants were charged after an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General's Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission found that the defendants had used the scholarship funds to pay the mortgage on the booster club's bingo hall, to pay the club's attorneys, and to pay themselves for bookkeeping, security, and management fees.
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