washington: a former columbia public school district employee and business owner, her longtime friend, pleaded guilty today to one count of federal mail fraud stemming from a bid rigging scheme involving a contract government valued at nearly $300,000.
the announcement was made by u.s. attorney Jessie K. Liu, Nancy McNamara, Deputy Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, and District of Columbia Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas.
amber r. Crowder, 39, of Washington, D.C., also known as Amber Hines, and Shauna Marie Brumfield, 40, of Sacramento, Calif., also known as Shauna Snell, each pleaded guilty in the United States. district court for the district of columbia. the charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and possible financial penalties. The Honorable Senior Judge John D. Bates scheduled Brumfield’s sentencing for February. February 5, 2019 and crowder’s sentence of February 5, 2019. 11, 2019.
According to a statement of facts agreed to by both defendants as part of their guilty pleas, Crowder worked as a program manager in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Office of Special Education (OSE). In the summer of 2012, Crowder was tasked with identifying and recommending a company to assist in scheduling meetings related to individual educational plans for special education students. Brumfield and Crowder agreed to work together to get the contract.
on Aug. On January 7, 2012, Brumfield created a company called A Simple Solution to bid on the contract. brumfield and crowder were partners in a simple solution. crowder did not identify himself in any company filings or include himself in any communication to dcps to conceal his ownership interest in a simple solution. At the time, Brumfield and Crowder were also partners in another company called Education Connection, which provided tutoring services to special education students. crowder was not identified in any education connection company presentation nor was he included in any communication from education connection to dcps.
A simple administrative assistant contract solution was chosen among several qualified local businesses based on written documentation prepared by crowder and his personal recommendation. In that documentation, Crowder falsely stated that a simple solution was an experienced company. Crowder falsely claimed that his contact person for a simple solution was “Marie Matthews”, which was an alias used by Brumfield. Crowder did not disclose that he was on Education Connection’s payroll. Simple Solution bid $298,800 for the contract because Crowder revealed to Brumfield that the expected budget for the contract was $300,000. two separate contracts were signed to cover the entire school year. crowder’s boyfriend signed the first contract as the alleged simple solution CFO, while brumfield’s boyfriend signed the second contract as the alleged simple solution branch manager to make it appear that simple solution was an established company with multiple employees .
As a result of the fraud, from October 2012 through March 2014, District of Columbia Public Schools paid approximately $222,000 for a simple fix. brumfield transferred approximately $19,164 of those funds from a simple solution’s bank account to crowder’s personal bank account.
In announcing the allegations, u.s. attorney liu, deputy director in charge of mcnamara and inspector general lucas praised the work of those who investigated the case from the fbi field office in washington and the office of the inspector general for the district of columbia. They also recognized the efforts of those who worked on the case from the United States. attorney’s office, including us assistant uu. attorney diane lucas, paralegals joshua fein and aisha keys, and former paralegals jessica mundi and kristy penny. Finally, they praised the work of the assistant u.s. attorneys anthony saler and kondi kleinman, who investigated and prosecuted the case.