A former superintendent for the St. Joseph School District pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Monday.
Danny Colgan, 70, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty to wire fraud after an investigation found that Colgan devised a scheme that began in 1997 to defraud the school district.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Colgan will be sentenced to one year and a day in prison and he must pay $662,660 in restitution prior to his sentencing hearing, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office – Western District of Missouri. Colgan’s sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, and he was released on bond.
The news release says Colgan was the superintendent of the St. Joseph School District from July 1, 1992 until he retired on Dec. 31, 2005. Colgan was entitled to retirement benefits with the amount based on his highest consecutive three years of reported salary. By pleading guilty, Colgan admitted he caused others to falsely report his salary in order to increase his retirement benefits, according to the news release.
The school district falsely reported Colgan’s salary totaled $586,030. His true salary totaled $343,286 – a difference of $242,744. According to the news release, as a result of the false statements of Colgan’s salary, the school district made excess payments in the amount of $14,652 from 2003 to 2005. Colgan was paid excess benefits that totaled $677,313 over a 10-year period.
------
Follow 41 Action News on Twitter:
Like 41 Action News on Facebook:
