Ex-Arizona principal pleads guilty to $2.5M enrollment fraud
PHOENIX (AP) — A former charter school principal in Arizona has pleaded guilty to participating in a $2.5 million scheme to inflate enrollment at the now-closed Bradley Academy of Excellence.
Former Goodyear school principal Harold Cadiz, 55, was charged with two counts of felony theft and faces up to 12 and a half years in prison for his role in falsifying student enrollment figures.
Cadiz contributed to the false reporting of about 191 fake students to the state Department of Education during the 2016-2017 school year, and about 453 the following year, prosecutors said.
Arizona public schools are funded based on the number of students, meaning each additional student a school reports to the state brings more tax dollars.
The school closed in January 2018 ahead of an audit from the state education department, officials said.
The fraudulent increase was preceded by low enrollment figures that would have resulted in a reduction of state funding, KTAR-TV reported.
"I got caught up in stuff that is not me, and I'm facing years in prison because of his greed," Cadiz told The Arizona Republic. “I'm beside myself. I live in torment.”
Cadiz is scheduled for sentencing March 27.