School Board president indicted
A state grand jury indicted Tangipahoa School Board President Eric Dangerfield, his wife and five relatives on charges of stealing from the state’s Medicaid program, the Louisiana attorney general reported Tuesday.
Dangerfield, 59, and his wife Cassandra, 52, both of Hammond, were each charged Thursday with nine felony counts including six of theft by fraud, according to a news release from Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.
The grand jury also charged the couple with counts of racketeering, criminal conspiracy to commit forgery and theft by fraud and money laundering, the news release said.
Cassandra Dangerfield was additionally charged with one count each of filing and/or maintaining false public records and Medicaid fraud, the news release said.
The Dangerfields surrendered and were booked at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Tuesday morning, said Amanda Larkins, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office.
Eric and Cassandra Dangerfield were in the process of being released from the prison late Tuesday afternoon after posting $39,000 and $44,000 bail, respectively, a jail spokesman said.
Eric Dangerfield did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment on the indictments. A School Board member since 2006, he was chosen as board president in January.
The Dangerfields owned and operated a Hammond personal care business, 1st Thessalonians Community Programs Inc., which billed the state’s Medicaid program for more than $18 million from 2002 to 2009, the news release said.
The Dangerfields operated a “pattern of corrupt business practices and various fraudulent schemes to commit theft by fraud,” the news release said.
If convicted, both Dangerfields could face sentences of more than 200 years in prison and fines of more than $1 million, the news release said.
The company could be fined more than $1 million, the news release said.
“We are saddened to learn of the indictment of Mr. Eric Dangerfield for matters that have to do strictly with his private business enterprise,” Tangipahoa Parish School Superintendent Mark Kolwe said in a statement released by the system’s attorney.
“Mr. Dangerfield was elected by the voters of his district and the School System has no authority to remove him from office for mere allegations of wrongdoing. He has not given any indication yet of any plans to resign,” Kolwe sai.
Seventeen former employees of 1st Thessalonians Community Programs have been convicted as part of the investigation, the news release said.
School Board member Al Link said he was surprised but not shocked by the Dangerfields’ indictments.
“There had been some cases with his business before,” Link said. “I thought that was over with.”
Link said the indictments were another blow the embattled board would have to fight through.
“We have been through so much with this board,” he said. “This just adds another dimension to it.”
Link, who taught Dangerfield at Hammond High School and has known Dangerfield’s family for more than 40 years, said School Board members would discuss options with the board attorney before taking any official action in regard to Dangerfield.
The grand jury charged five other Dangerfield family members with wrongdoing:
- Keosha Neshay Martin, 30, 12846 Delores Drive, Baton Rouge, a niece of Cassandra Dangerfield, one count of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to commit forgery and one count each of Medicaid fraud and conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
- Colston J. Martin, 58, of Mount Hermon, and Lorraine Lee Martin, 58, the parents of Keosha Martin, one count each of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud and conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
- Meather M. Johnson, 59, and her daughter, Ashley Sabrith Johnson, relatives of Eric Dangerfield, one count each of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud and conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
The Attorney General’s Office was negotiating surrenders with the five defendants who have yet to be booked, spokeswoman Laura Gerdes said.
The investigation into 1st Thessalonians Community Programs began in 2006 and is still going on, a spokeswoman for Caldwell said.