DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – Former Dallas County Schools Superintendent, Rick Sorrells, has agreed to plead guilty in a multi-million dollar kickback scheme that spanned six years.
DCS was shut down by voters in the November 2017 elections. The school bus agency had been mired in controversy that included safety and financial problems that caught the attention of state lawmakers.
Prosecutors said Sorrells allegedly received more than $3 million in bribe and kickback payments to help secure over $70 million in contracts, agreements and orders.
Investigators said from 2011 to 2017, the president of a technology company that put cameras on school buses, paid Sorrells the money in exchange for the contracts and licensing agreements on behalf of DCS as well as the purchase of school-bus-camera equipment.
In an effort to evade detection, prosecutors said payments made to Sorrells were allegedly funneled through various pass-through companies created and operated by his business associate, Slater Washburn Swarwood Senior as well as a law firm.
They also said Sorrells used an account in the name of a nonexistent company to conceal payments that were made toward Sorrells’ credit card debt. He is also accused of receiving payments through shell companies which, at the urging of the technology company’s president, he created in his and his family member’s name.
Prosecutors said Sorrells and others manufactured fake consulting agreements, invoices, a real estate business and loan documents during the scheme.
According to plea papers that were filed, Sorrells’ intends to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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