Assistant Superindendent Exposes Yonkers schools chief in Kickback Scheme

Maryland -- Free-Press-Release.com-- Apr 22, 2012 -- Former schools chief from Houston burst on the scene in Yonkers nine years ago with a cadre of Texas educators, fresh from helping transform the Houston school system. He came east to boost test scores and bridge the digital divide in city schools. With the aid of Cynthia Joffrion, the Texas technology maven who joined him in Yonkers, new computers flooded into classrooms while the suspect's leadership helped raise test scores. Throughout his stormy 23-month tenure, however, Hornsby was dogged with questions about his dealings with technology vendors. It turns out that Joffrion, assistant superintendent for technology support services under Hornsby, was among his accusers, according to an FBI affidavit obtained by The Journal News. Joffrion in 1999 told authorities that suspect had ordered Yonkers employees to send new computers to his relatives. But then-Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro's investigation of those allegations never led to charges after Hornsby caught wind of the probe.

In hindsight, the suspect's Yonkers troubles seemed to presage what was to come following his hiring in 2003 as chief executive officer of the school system in Prince George's County, Md., the nation's 18th largest district. It borders Washington and has more than 130,000 students and a budget exceeding $1 billion. The suspect now awaits trial on a 16-count federal indictment arising from a scheme in which prosecutors say he awarded lucrative technology contracts that benefited himself and close associates. One of the case's key witnesses appears to be none other than Joffrion, who cooperated in Pirro's investigation as well as the FBI inquiry that led to the suspect's downfall, according to documents and interviews. The suspect stepped down from his $250,000-a-year post in 2006 just before his indictment. "What a travesty," said former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer, who backed the suspect's hiring in 1998 but then urged his firing less than two years later. "We got rid of him, then he goes to Prince George's, he rips those people off, and they finally catch him. They should have caught him here. Joffrion, who played a central role in the Westchester and Maryland probes, left Yonkers in June 2000, two weeks after the suspect was fired. She later worked on technology issues for the Mount Vernon school district before becoming Technology and E-rate Director.

Details of the aborted Westchester investigation are included in an affidavit from the Maryland case, made by FBI Special Agent John Sheridan in 2005 as he sought a warrant to seize the suspect's office computers. The FBI affidavit does not identify Joffrion, but refers to her as a cooperating witness who worked on technology issues with the suspect's in Texas in the late 1990s and joined him as an assistant superintendent in Yonkers in the fall of 1998. Joffrion was hired in Yonkers on Sept. 28, 1998. It also identifies the cooperating witness as the complainant to Yonkers Inspector General Phil Zisman in 1999 regarding a questionable computer deal. Zisman said Joffrion made such a complaint.

Zisman said Joffrion came to his office in 1999 with allegations concerning the school district's deal with both Compaq and Apple computers, in which the manufacturers sold computers in bundles of 10 and provided one or two extra units as an incentive. Joffrion alleged the suspect told her to send the extra computers to his relatives, and threatened to fire her and her staff when she refused. "We basically did some preliminary investigation and referred it to the district attorney," Zisman said. "We thought the information was accurate. I think there was criminality. He was not prosecuted. You can ask Mrs. Pirro about that." During Pirro's investigation, Joffrion recorded about 40 telephone and in-person conversations with Hornsby, according to the affidavit. Before the issuance of search warrants in connection with the computers, the suspect's was informed of the search by a friend and two others whose names are blacked out in the affidavit. "(They) notified Hornsby so he could dispose of the evidence," the affidavit stated.

According to the affidavit, Joffrion continued to work undercover from 1999 to 2005. She agreed to make kickbacks of $144,000 to Hornsby under the instruction of the FBI. She was cooperating with the FBI, and authorities in December 2004 recorded her giving the suspect $1,000 as her first payment under the contract.

In July of 2008 Hornsby was convict on bibery and obstruction of justice. Resently, the U.S. Justice Organization honored Cynthia Joffrion with the Wellington Award, its highest honor, given to a citizen "who at great personal sacrifice, has unselfishly served her community and the nation."

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Jan Wharton
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