Hornsby guilty of corruption

Ex-Prince George's schools chief used office to get cut of contracts

By Nick Madigan | Sun reporter

July 24, 2008

Former Prince George's County Superintendent Andre J. Hornsby (right) leaves court with his attorney, Robert C. Bonsib. (Sun photo by Algerina Perna / November 20, 2007)

After four years of investigations, two trials and a determined effort by federal prosecutors, former Prince George's County schools Superintendent Andre J. Hornsby was found guilty yesterday of six of the 22 counts of corruption with which he was charged.

Hornsby, 54, was acquitted of two charges, and the jury deadlocked on the remaining 14. He was released pending sentencing on Oct. 20, when he could face a maximum of 90 years in prison.

But Hornsby will most likely be sentenced to considerably less, perhaps a dozen years or more.

U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messite, in his courtroom in Greenbelt, told Hornsby he must not travel abroad without the court's permission and ordered him to surrender his passport.

"It's a resounding vindication of the public's interest in integrity in government," Rod J. Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, said by telephone after the verdict.

"It's always a sad day to find someone in a position of responsibility who allowed greed to divert him from pursuing the interests of the students."

Hornsby's lawyer, Robert C. Bonsib, said late yesterday that he and his client were "obviously disappointed."

"When you're up against the federal government and you're one guy, it's a tough fight," he said.

"We're hoping that when sentencing comes around, the many good deeds and the accomplishments he had in Prince George's County will be taken into consideration by the judge."

Bonsib said he expects Hornsby to file an appeal after sentencing.

Hornsby was convicted of three counts of wire fraud and one each of evidence tampering, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. The jury, which spent five days deliberating, acquitted him of a wire fraud count and a witness tampering count.

An earlier trial ended in November with a deadlocked jury.

The FBI launched an investigation of Hornsby's activities in the fall of 2004 after The Sun reported that he had presided over a $1 million purchase of early-literacy technology from LeapFrog SchoolHouse without disclosing that his live-in lover, Sienna Owens, was a saleswoman for the company.

Owens testified in both trials that she had split a $20,000 share of her LeapFrog sales commission with Hornsby by placing $10,000 in cash on the bed they shared in his townhouse in Mitchellville. He scooped up the money without a word, she told jurors.

In the months leading up to that action, she said, Hornsby occasionally asked her, "Where's my cut?"

Ultimately, a grand jury brought felony charges against Hornsby after investigators concluded that he illegally steered contracts not only to LeapFrog but to E-Rate Manager, a shell company run by Hornsby's business partner, Cynthia Joffrion.

Hornsby covertly arranged to get thousands of dollars from the proceeds of the lucrative contracts he helped push through for both companies, according to the indictment.

Jurors watched surveillance tapes in which Hornsby, sitting in a hotel room with a glass of wine, is heard advising Joffrion how to pay him a $145,000 kickback by buying antiques, classic cars, paintings and other valuable items that could then be sold.

"If I give you cash ... how in the [expletive] are they going to know that?" Joffrion asked Hornsby during the Dec. 20, 2004, meeting. "I'm not telling anybody. I'm not going to jail."

"Me either," Hornsby replied. The tape then shows him stuffing a $1,000 down payment into his pocket.