A former state employee admitted Tuesday that she took bribes for nearly three years to permit two other women to obtain $6 million in federal funds by falsely claiming they fed underprivileged children in after-school and summer nutrition programs.
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| TONIQUE HATTON |
Tonique Hatton, 39, of North
Little Rock, flanked by defense attorneys Stuart Vess and Christian Alexander,
pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Little Rock to charges of conspiracy
to commit wire fraud and receipt of a bribe.
Both charges centered on Hatton's
job at the state Department of Human Services, which served as the
administrator for the feeding programs, which were funded by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana
Harris said Hatton's responsibilities included processing applications from
people who applied to be sponsors to feed low-income children and later be
reimbursed through the federal government. Her duties included determining the
sponsors' eligibility and approving their proposed feeding sites.
From January 2012 through August
2014, Hatton and another state worker, Gladys Elise Waits, also known as Gladys
Elise King, approved paperwork allowing Jacqueline Mills of Helena-West Helena
and Kattie Jordan of Dermott to be sponsors and submit claims, despite knowing
that the women planned to commit fraud, Harris said. She said Hatton and Waits
also helped Mills and Jordan avoid detection.
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| GLADYS ELISE WAITS |
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| JACQUELINE D. MILLS |
Mills operated approved feeding
sites in cities including Helena-West Helena and Marianna, through which she
received more than $2.5 million in federal funds. Jordan operated approved
sites in cities including Dermott, Dumas, Eudora and Lake Village, through
which she received more than $3.5 million in federal funds. Both Mills and
Jordan claimed they fed far more children than they actually did, Harris said.
Waits pleaded guilty March 30 to
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and receipt of a bribe, and is awaiting
sentencing. If she and Hatton hadn't pleaded guilty, both would be joining
three other people in a jury trial that is to begin Oct. 17 in the Little Rock
courtroom of U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr.
In return for Hatton's guilty
pleas, for which she will be sentenced in about 90 days, Moody granted Harris'
request to dismiss 26 individual counts of bribery against Hatton.
In the courtroom, Harris said
Hatton accepted $30,770 in bribe checks made out to her, and another $62,700 in
bribe checks made out to a relative of hers.
Although an indictment lists 27
checks that it says Hatton received from Mills and Jordan during the nearly
three-year period, Hatton pleaded guilty to a single bribery charge, admitting
that she accepted a $16,000 check from Mills on May 25, 2013.
Still, as part of the plea
agreement, Hatton agreed that "every bit" of the allegations against
her in the indictment were true.
The indictment listed checks to
Hatton that ranged from $5,000 to $16,000. The memo lines of the checks were
occasionally left blank, but in most cases indicated the checks were used to
pay for furniture, supplies, food, mileage, setup fees, travel and building
materials.
Harris didn't say whether the
checks covered some legitimate expenses as well as the fraudulent expenses.
However, she told Moody that the amount of restitution that will be due by each
of the defendants hasn't yet been agreed upon. If the restitution can't be
worked out before sentencing, Harris said, the parties will let the court
decide the amounts each defendant owes.
Those still awaiting trial in the
case are Mills; Dortha Harper, also known as Dorothy Harper, of England; and
Waits' estranged husband, Anthony Leon Waits, also of England.
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| ANTHONY LEON WAITS |
The conspiracy charge against
Hatton is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the bribery charge is
punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison. Each charge also carries a
potential fine of up to $250,000.
While federal sentencing
guidelines will help determine a recommended penalty range within the statutory
requirements, Harris said Hatton's plea agreement includes enhancements for
abusing a position of trust, accepting more than one bribe and for the amount
of loss involved in the scheme.
She said Hatton has agreed to
forfeit to the government $17,681 that she has in a bank account, to be put
toward her restitution.
Hatton wasn't asked in the
courtroom to explain her guilt in her own words, and she declined to comment
after the hearing when asked what motivated her to commit the crimes.
We knew what motivated her...greed and lack of internal controls by the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
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| BACK IN 2014 DHS DIRECTOR JOHN SELIG ADMITTED LACK OF CONTROLS PERMITTED "BAD ACTORS" TO PLUNDER THE PROGRAM DHS ADMINISTERED. |
The federal government contracted with DHS to process applications
from would-be sponsors, which included reviewing their budgets and the
sites where they intended to provide food, to ensure they were eligible
to participate. DHS then administered the federal funds to the
pre-approved sponsors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris pointed out that DHS bore some responsibility by allowing the fraud to occur. "Because their applications had been approved for a specified number of
sites and a specified number of children who could be fed at the sites,
inflated claims were approved and paid by DHS without further scrutiny," Harris said.
