Appeals court vacates some counts against former Prince George's County (Md.) school chief

Ruling means Andre Hornsby is likely to see his 6-year sentence reduced

Jan. 26, 2012

2 min read

From The Washington Post: A federal appeals court has thrown out out half of the criminal convictions against Andre J. Hornsby, meaning that the former Prince George’s County (Md.) schools chief might be freed from prison sooner. The ruling vacates the “honest-services” fraud convictions against Hornsby, but upholds the evidence-tampering, witness-tampering and obstruction charges against him. Hornsby was sentenced to six years in prison for steering schools contracts to his girlfriend and business associate and then covering his tracks. Hornsby will be re-sentenced on only the tampering and obstruction convictions.

Earlier....
FROM 2008: Andre J. Hornsby, former superintendent of the Prince George's County (Md.) school district, has been sentenced to six years in prison for steering contracts to a girlfriend and a longtime business associate. Hornsby was accused of awarding a school system contract worth almost $1 million to his then-girlfriend, Sienna Owens, a sales representative for LeapFrog Schoolhouse, an educational technology company. (The Washington Post)

CONVICTED: Andre J. Hornsby, the former Prince George's County (Md.) public schools chief, has been convicted on six of the 22 federal charges. The jury acquitted Hornsby of two charges and deadlocked on the rest. Three years after he resigned amid a federal investigation, Hornsby faces a substantial prison sentence. Prosecutors accused him of steering school system contracts to his girlfriend and to a longtime business associate in exchange for kickbacks. He was convicted of honest-services wire fraud, attempted evidence tampering and obstruction of justice. He was acquitted of one wire fraud count and one attempted witness tampering count. (The Washington Post)