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Which system gets more funding? Well, it depends on how you count the dollars.

Arizona Republic

The former charter school CEO who pled guilty to felony charges related to reporting fake students as part of an enrollment-inflation scheme has been sentenced to four years in prison. 

Daniel K. Hughes, the former CEO of thedefunct Bradley Academy of Excellence, was sentenced and ordered to pay restitution for his role in the theft of over $2.6 million from the Arizona Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Communications Commission, according to a statement released Wednesday from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Bradley Academy,which was also known as the Discovery Creemos Academy and Bradley Creemos Academy, was a charter school in Goodyear that abruptly closed its doors in January 2018. It was discovered that the school had falsified its attendance records, the statement said. 

Background on the case: Ex-charter school operator of Discovery Creemos pleads guilty to theft, conspiracy

“Hughes was the architect of a scheme reporting fake students, called ‘caspers,’ to the Arizona Department of Education to increase funding,” the statement said.

Hughes, Principal Harold Cadiz and Vice Principal Joann Riojas Vegareported 191 caspers during the 2016-2017 academic year and 453 caspers during the 2017-2018 academic year, which resulted in more than $2 million in overpayments, the statement said.

Hughes pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft in November 2018.

A Maricopa County Superior Court Judge sentenced Hughes on March 12, the statement said. After release from prison, Hughes will be placed on supervised probation for five years.

Cadiz and Vega both pleaded guilty and were sentenced in 2020. Cadiz was sentenced to 3.75 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised probation with white-collar terms; Vega was sentenced to four months of jail and five years of supervised probation with white-collar terms, the statement said.

All three defendants are ordered to pay $2,538,722 together in restitution, according to the statement.

Reach breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at [email protected] or on Twitter @peiyulintw.

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