A Durham man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for dispensing bribes and kickbacks as part of a public corruption conspiracy involving a federally funded charter school in Dayton Ohio.
Carl L. Robinson, 47,who prosecutors say operated an educational consulting business called Global Educational Consultants, along with three others connected with the charter school, called Arise! Academy, were charged with several crimes including bribery and conspiracy. The Southern District of Ohio is prosecuting the case.
The other individuals indicted include the superintendent and two board members of Arise, all of Ohio. Arise, which operated between 2008 and 2010, struggled to pay off its staff and vendors.
Prosecutors allege that the three Ohio individuals solicited bribes from Robinson in exchange for awarding a lucrative, unbid consulting contract to Global. The 18-page indictment says Arise paid Global $420,919 over the course of a year beginning in 2008, and that in exchange for the consulting contract, Robinson paid out more than $5,000 in cash, offered a trip to Las Vegas and offered payments for a school security service one of the board members owned.
If convicted, Robinson faces up to 15 years in prison.
