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Former Chief Of Pr. George's Schools Gets 6-Year Term

Front page story.

By Ruben Castaneda

Former Prince George's County schools chief
Andre J. Hornsby was sentenced yesterday to six
years in federal prison for steering contracts
to a girlfriend and a longtime business
associate and then orchestrating what
prosecutors called an "egregious" coverup.

The prison sentence marks the nadir for
Hornsby, 55, who arrived in the county in 2003
with a reputation as a bold, confident
administrator and a mandate to change the
school system, which at the time had the
second-lowest test scores in Maryland.

Just before U.S. District Judge Peter J.
Messitte announced the sentence in a Greenbelt
courtroom, Hornsby spoke for a little more than
five minutes. At first, his voice quaked with
emotion, but it became stronger as he
continued.

"I'm totally embarrassed by what I've put
myself into," Hornsby said. He did not admit
guilt and said he never imagined that his
actions would land him in court.

"I understand the seriousness of my actions. I
understand mistakes were made," Hornsby said.

As schools chief, he said, he made thousands of
decisions every day. "I was not making those
decisions to benefit me," he said. "I was
making those decisions to benefit the children
of this county."

Messitte imposed the sentence after a hard-
fought 3 1/2-hour hearing, during which a dozen
educators, citing Hornsby's educational
accomplishments and dedication to children,
pleaded for leniency on his behalf.

They were countered by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Michael Pauze, who spoke of the kickbacks taken
by Hornsby, the evidence he destroyed and the
witness he tried to influence.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 12 1/2
years, at the low end of advisory sentencing
guidelines. But Messitte said he could not
impose that sentence, in large part because the
government had not provided examples of other
people convicted of public corruption who have
been given similarly harsh sentences.

"Six years is a long time for a man the age of
Dr. Hornsby," Messitte said, adding that the
sentence was tough enough to have a deterrent
effect.

A year ago, a federal jury in Greenbelt
deadlocked on the 16 corruption charges Hornsby
originally faced. Prosecutors then brought a
revised indictment, accusing Hornsby of six
additional charges. On July 23, three years
after he resigned as schools chief amid an FBI
investigation, a jury convicted Hornsby on six
of the 22 charges after deliberating for a
week. It acquitted him of two charges and
deadlocked on the rest.

During the first trial, he bantered easily with
reporters during breaks, and even after he was
convicted, he did not exhibit any signs of
defeat.

That Hornsby was gone yesterday. He entered the
courthouse flanked by two of his daughters,
Yvette, 24, and Morgan, 15, who hooked their
arms with their father's. Hornsby appeared
worried, and his hair was noticeably grayer
than it was before his first trial.

Hornsby looked at each of the half-dozen
educators who spoke to Messitte on his behalf,
and he kept his eyes on a computer screen at
the defense table as his attorney, Robert
Bonsib, played videos of another half-dozen
educators praising Hornsby and asking the judge
for leniency.

But when his daughter Yvette stood before
Messitte to speak of Hornsby's devotion to his
family, his gaze veered to the left, away from
his daughter.

Bonsib said Hornsby plans to appeal.

There is no parole in the federal system, and
most defendants serve at least 85 percent of
their sentences. In addition to the six years
in prison, Messitte ordered that Hornsby be
placed on three years of supervised release.

He must also pay a fine of $20,000, plus
$70,000 to Prince George's County in
restitution for the $345,000 private report the
county paid for to investigate Hornsby's
dealings. Messitte said he did not know whether
the price of the report was valid.

At Bonsib's request, Messitte ordered Hornsby
to serve his sentence at a prison in Oklahoma
City, near relatives. The judge also ordered
Hornsby to enter an evaluation and treatment
program for alcohol abuse while in prison. He
said Hornsby had to surrender himself to the
federal Bureau of Prisons by Jan. 2.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said
he was not disappointed by the sentence. "A
six-year sentence is a pretty substantial
sentence in a public corruption case,"
Rosenstein said.

Judy Mickens-Murray, a former member of the
Prince George's County Board of Education who
opposed Hornsby's selection as schools chief,
said she thought the sentence was appropriate.
"I think it is important to send a message to
children that there are going to be some adults
that look out for their welfare, and
consequences are important."

Hornsby was accused of secretly steering a
school system contract worth almost $1 million
to his then-girlfriend, Sienna Owens, a sales
representative for LeapFrog Schoolhouse, an
educational technology company. Owens testified
for the government that she gave Hornsby half
her $20,000 commission, in cash.

Federal prosecutors also presented evidence
that Cynthia Joffrion, a longtime business
associate of Hornsby's, agreed to pay him
$145,000 after he arranged for her to negotiate
a consulting contract with Prince George's
schools.

In what was perhaps the most sensational piece
of evidence in the government's case,
prosecutors played for the jury a video of
Hornsby meeting with Joffrion in a Bowie hotel
room in December 2004. On the recording, which
was surreptitiously videotaped by the FBI,
Hornsby is seen taking $1,000 in cash from
Joffrion and stuffing it into his shirt pocket.

Joffrion was secretly cooperating with the FBI.

Federal prosecutors also presented testimony
that Hornsby sent his oldest daughter to speak
to Owens in what they said was an attempt by
Hornsby to tamper with a key government
witness.

Hornsby was convicted of honest-services wire
fraud, attempted evidence tampering and
obstruction of justice.

Prince George's schools officials had hoped
Hornsby could help save a public education
system plagued by poor performance and
leadership turnover.

The school board that hired Hornsby over two
other finalists knew that he had been fired
from his job as school superintendent in
Yonkers, N.Y., after publicly feuding with the
mayor. He had also been investigated there for
allegedly accepting gifts from a school vendor,
a charge Hornsby denied.

Still, Hornsby had been credited with raising
student performance in Yonkers. By an 8 to 1
vote, the school board gave Hornsby a four-year
contract with a $250,000 annual salary. School
officials hoped his aggressive management style
would deliver results.

During Hornsby's first school year, test scores
rose in many county schools, though the state
still listed more than 70 county schools, more
than a third of the system, as needing
improvement.

But questions arose about a year into Hornsby's
tenure, after he approved the Leapfrog
Schoolhouse purchase. Hornsby used federal
anti-poverty funds for the deal and did not
inform the board about his relationship with
Owens. That relationship surfaced in news
reports.

Staff writer Nelson Hernandez also contributed
to this report.

— Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post
2008-11-26


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