DALLAS Tommy Ingram, a former Fort Worth Independent School District maintenance director, and Ray Brooks, a concrete vendor, were each sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for bilking the district of $15.9 million.
The two men were convicted of tax evasion and mail fraud, stemming from a billing scheme in which Ingram inflated the cost of concrete work at district facilities and split the excess with Brooks. In addition to prison time, they must also jointly pay restitution totaling $15.9 million.
Following media attention about wrongdoing by Ingram and Brooks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a probe of the districts purchasing and bidding practices in relation to its use of proceeds from $312.5 million of general obligation bonds issued to finance new schools and expansions to existing campuses. The bonds were authorized in a 1999 referendum in which voters approved a total bond package of $398 million.
Superintendent Thomas Tocco said the district will have to work for years to overcome the impact of the fraud.
