Eight Individuals Indicted for Defrauding Temple University

United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan today announced the filing of a 49-count indictment charging Grady McCrary, Brian Kornegay, Sean McCrary, Carlton McCrary, Jamillah Allen, Tasha Gordon, Shonda Feggins and Jane Doe, a/k/a Sonya Marshall, a/k/a Ramona Barber, with committing mail fraud and bank fraud and using false social security numbers to defraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1344, and 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B). In addition, the indictment charges Grady McCrary with making false statements to a bank in relation to receiving student loans under the name Barry Williams in 1997, and theft of student loan proceeds and grants in 1997 and 1998, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 and 20 U.S.C. § 1097(a).

According to the Indictment, from March 1996 through February 1998, the defendants passed tuition checks at Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, drawn on closed accounts, accounts with insufficient funds and accounts that did not exist, at various banks. The defendants then sought and obtained refund checks from Temple University before Temple University knew that the tuition checks were fraudulent. The defendants passed over $94,000 in fraudulent tuition checks at Temple, and received more than $76,000 in refund checks from Temple through this scheme. In conducting this scheme, the defendants enrolled under their own names, as well as under false names with false social security numbers. The indictment further charges that the defendants committed bank fraud when they passed the bad tuition checks at Temple University, as well as at DeVry Institute of Technology, in Decatur, Georgia, and University of Maryland, in College Park, Maryland, totaling approximately $115,000, from March 1996 through March 1998.

The indictment also charges Grady McCrary with fraudulently obtaining $22,775 in federally funded student loans and grants at Temple University and University of Maryland in 1997 and 1998.

If convicted, the defendants face the following maximum possible sentences:

Grady McCrary: 365 years imprisonment and a $15,250,000 fine.
Brian Kornegay: 165 years imprisonment and a $7,250,000 fine.
Sean McCrary: 120 years imprisonment and a $5,500,000 fine.
Carlton McCrary: 115 years imprisonment and a $5,250,000 fine.
Jamillah Allen: 120 years imprisonment and a $5,500,000 fine.
Tasha Gordon: 120 years imprisonment and a $5,500,000 fine.
Shonda Feggins: 115 years imprisonment and a $5,250,000 fine.
Jane Doe: 120 years imprisonment and a $5,500,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Temple University Police. Prosecution has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Sarah L. Grieb.

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