One of the stars of a reality show about preacher’s wives has been sentenced to 15 years for lying about hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding intended for tutoring low-income youth.
Domonique Scott, one of the stars of TLC's "The Sisterhood," was sentenced to one year in confinement followed by 14 years of probation for lying about government money that was supposed to go toward her tutoring company, the Georgia Department of Law said Wednesday. However, her confinement will be commuted to time served if she successfully completes 180 days in a probation detention center. The remainder of her sentence would then be served on probation.
Investigators told Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday that Scott received at least $425,000 from the federal government to provide tutoring services for five Georgia school systems, including DeKalb and Clayton counties. However, the business only existed on paper.
The Department of Law said Scott sent false documents to the U.S. Department of Education in January 2010, including a forged letter from a fictitious bank representing a non-existent cash line of credit, in order to qualify for the Supplemental Education Services tutoring program.
Scott pleaded guilty July 2 to forgery and three counts of giving false statements. In addition to confinement and probation time, a Fulton County judge ordered this month that she pay $230,952.91 of restitution to the Georgia Department of Education and complete a substance abuse evaluation. She also cannot apply for any funding from state or federal agencies.
“The purpose of the Supplemental Education Services program is to assist needy children struggling in low performing schools,” Attorney General Sam Olens said in a news release Wednesday. “It is deplorable that Ms. Scott exploited this program in order to line her own pockets.”
The Georgia Department of Education told Channel 2 that federal funding for tutoring now goes directly to school districts, which ultimately decide how the money is spent.
"The Sisterhood," which debuted in January 2013, followed the lives of five metro Atlanta preachers and their families. Scott and her husband lost their church, The Good Life Ministry, after experiencing financial problems.
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