{"id":12889,"date":"2015-06-16T16:16:29","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T23:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12889"},"modified":"2015-06-16T16:16:29","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T23:16:29","slug":"d-c-official-used-110000-of-youth-and-drug-grant-money-to-pay-for-an-inaugural-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12889","title":{"rendered":"D.C. Official Used $110,000 of Youth and Drug Grant Money to Pay for an Inaugural Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"courtroom_02\"<\/a>A federal judge today sentenced a former Washington D.C. government official to jail and ordered him to pay restitution for using $110,000 in youth and drug prevention grant funds to pay for an inaugural ball, officials announced.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Court\u00a0\u00a0Judge John D. Bates<\/strong> sentenced Neil S. Rodgers<\/strong> to 36 days in jail \u00a0to be served over 12 weekends and put on two years probation, officials stated.<\/p>\n

A jury found Rodgers guilty of first-degree fraud.<\/p>\n

Rodgers, 62, of Washington, D.C., served as the Committee Director of the Council of the District of Columbia\u2019s Committee on Libraries, Parks, Recreation and Planning. Before becoming Committee Director, Rodgers worked for many years at the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation, serving as Chief of Staff and Acting Director, according to authorities..<\/p>\n

Six others have pled guilty to charges in the overall investigation, which focused on activities involving former Council Member Harry L. Thomas, Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thomas pled guilty in January 2012 to charges stemming from a scheme in which he used more than $350,000 in taxpayers\u2019 money that was earmarked for the arts, youth recreation, and summer programs for his own personal benefit, including paying for vehicles, clothing, and trips.<\/p>\n

He resigned in January 2012 as a condition of his plea agreement and later served a 38-month prison sentence.<\/p>\n

According to the government\u2019s evidence, Rodgers aided Thomas in illegally securing funds for the 51st State Inaugural Ball, held on Jan. 20, 2009, at the Wilson Building.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeil Rodgers worked with former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas to perpetrate a fraud that diverted money from at-risk children to throw a black-tie ball for adults,\u201d said Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent Cohen<\/strong>. \u201cHis conviction at trial brings to seven the number of people convicted as part of Harry Thomas\u2019s chronic abuse of the public trust. Neil Rodgers refused to acknowledge that there was anything wrong in the cavalier way that he and Harry Thomas stole from a program for children. He now will be required to pay back every penny he stole from the children of the District. Those children, who were most harmed by this, deserve better from our public officials.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Officials said Thomas directed one of his staffers to plan the ball to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama.<\/p>\n

The 51st State Inaugural Ball<\/strong> was sponsored by Thomas, other council members and a local chapter of a political organization which was run by Thomas\u2019s staffer who planned the ball, officials said<\/p>\n

Ticket sales and other contributions failed to raise enough money to pay the expenses associated with the ball. Following the ball, the vendors who provided services for the ball were owed approximately $100,000.<\/p>\n

Thomas asked Rodgers to help find funding for the money owed to the vendors. Thomas and Rodgers participated in a scheme to take money that was originally donated by D.C. taxpayers to the Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund to pay for the inaugural ball.<\/p>\n

After the ball was over, officials said Thomas and Rodgers contacted the president of a public-private partnership that provided grants to children and youth of the district. Thomas and Rodgers falsely stated that the ball had been a youth event.<\/p>\n

The private-public partnership organization agreed to provide funding for the ball based on these representations. It also agreed to use the Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund money to pay for the ball.<\/p>\n

The Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund<\/strong> consisted of money that had accumulated at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation after years of tax donations by D.C. taxpayers.<\/p>\n

In 2008, \u00a0officials said the D.C. Council passed legislation that gave responsibility for distributing the money to the community to the public-private partnership organization.<\/p>\n

At the time of the ball, the money had not yet transferred to the public-private partnership. Rodgers used his influence to finalize the transfer of the money so that it could be used to pay for the inaugural ball, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Rodgers then submitted false paperwork to the public-private partnership that described the inaugural ball as a youth event, officials said.<\/p>\n

Officials said Rodgers provided multiple copies of budgets and supporting narratives that misled the public-private partnership and resulted in the issuance of the Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund money to pay for the inaugural ball.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C. A federal judge today sentenced a former Washington D.C. government official to jail and ordered him to pay restitution for using $110,000 in youth and drug prevention grant funds to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[1432],"class_list":["post-12889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-inaugrual-ball"],"yoast_head":"\nD.C. 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