Former East Feliciana School Board member Derald Spears has been charged with public payroll fraud for only attending one of the 12 meetings the board held last year. 20th Judicial District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla says Spears has committed a crime…
“I don’t think you could receive a paycheck and not do anything, I just can’t figure that so we charged him with it,” said D’Aquilla.
Based on the charge, Spears could face a fine of up to one-thousand and up to two years in prison. D’Aquilla says Spears was compensated for the eleven meetings he missed…
“The public elected you to do a job and if you don’t go and you don’t call in, I just see that as a crime,” said D’Aquilla.
D’Aquilla says they had a similar incident with former school board member Edward Brooks, who missed numerous meetings from 2016 to 2020 and it was pled down to a misdemeanor theft charge after he reimbursed the school system.
Spears attorney says Spears could not attend the meetings because he works at a chemical plant in Ascension Parish. But D’Aquilla says if a job gets in the way of holding public office, then you have to make a decision..
“If he could take a suspension from his elected position as a school board member he can resign, if he can’t make the meetings he needs to resign,” said D’Aquilla.
Spears term ended in December. He did not seek re-election after serving two terms. His case is set to go to trial in June.
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