Press Release
☷Former College Dean Sentenced to One Year in Federal Prison for Embezzling More Than $650 000 from Student Organization
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( By Press Release office)
May 05,2022
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Former College Dean Sentenced to a Year in Federal Prison for Embezzling More Than $650 , 000 From Student Organization CHICAGO — A former college dean has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for embezzling more than $650 , 000 from a national student organization working to improve minority representation in the pharmacy industry . While serving as the volunteer Executive Director of the student association , CARMITA COLEMAN withdrew cash and issued checks from the group’s bank accounts for her personal benefit . Coleman used debit cards linked to the organization’s accounts to make various personal purchases , including for trips to the Caribbean . She attempted to cover up the fraud by submitting false and misleading reports that concealed the withdrawals . When a new individual was appointed to replace Coleman as Executive Director , Coleman knowingly delayed turning over access to the organization’s bank accounts so that she could continue spending the money for her personal benefit . During the fraud scheme , which lasted from 2011 to 2016 , Coleman separately worked as a dean and professor at various colleges of pharmacy . Coleman , 50 , of Frankfort , Ill . , pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal wire fraud charge . In addition to the year - and - a - day prison sentence , U . S . District Judge Matthew F . Kennelly on Wednesday ordered Coleman to pay the remaining restitution of $490 , 528 . The sentence was announced by John R . Lausch , Jr . , United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie , Jr . , Special Agent - in - Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI . “Coleman’s offense is particularly egregious because she was supposed to be the adult in the room — the faculty member entrusted with overseeing the student organization’s accounts – but instead used the organization’s funds as her own piggy bank , ” Assistant U . S . Attorney L . Heidi Manschreck argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum . “As a result of her scheme , the organization was deprived of funds that were supposed to support its laudable mission , and not to line Coleman’s pockets . ”
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