HOUSTON — Two more defendants charged in a massive teaching certification cheating scandal faced a Houston judge on Monday.
All five suspects, including three Houston ISD educators, are charged with two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity. Investigators said the alleged scheme led to more than 200 unqualified teachers across Texas with fraudulent certifications.
District Attorney Kim Ogg said two of the people who paid to have the fake certification ended up being charged with crimes against children. She said one was accused of indecency with a child and another was charged with online solicitation of a minor.
"It was the access through the certification that was false that allowed them to commit the crimes," Ogg said.
Darian Wilhite, 22, and Tywana Gilford Mason, 51, appeared in court for the first time on Monday.
According to prosecutors, Wilhite was a proctor at TACTIX who took bribes to allow Booker T. Washington High School Assistant Principal Nicholas Newtown to act as a testing proxy. They say Newton took and passed hundreds of tests for teachers who couldn't.
The judge agreed to lower Wilhite's bond from $75,000 to $5,000 based on her age and no previous criminal record. Her attorney said she'll plead not guilty.
"Best case scenario, she was taken advantage of due to her age and limited financial resources and was used in this scheme and, you know, obviously that’s assuming that they can even prove these allegations to begin with," defense attorney Brett Podolsky told us.
Mason is the former director/VA certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center. Mason’s role as test proctor allowed her to keep the proxy scheme undetected.
'Kingpin' of alleged scheme made $1M, prosecutors say
The three HISD employees, two assistant principals and a basketball coach, appeared in court on Friday.
Prosecutors called Booker T. Washington High School boys basketball coach Vincent Grayson the “kingpin” of the alleged scheme. Grayson allegedly charged teachers seeking certifications $2,500 a pop to check in at testing centers while someone else took the tests for them. He made more than $1 million from the scheme, according to prosecutors.
- Vincent Grayson, 57, the head boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD. Grayson is charged as the organizer of the cheating scheme and has worked at the high school for nearly 20 years. He is charged with two counts of organized criminal activity. His bond was set at $300,000.
- Nicholas Newton, 35, is an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD. Newton is alleged to have participated in the scheme as the proxy test-taker. He was charged with two counts of organized criminal activity. On Friday, his bond was lowered from $100,000 to $25,000 for each count.
- LaShonda Roberts, 39, is an assistant principal at Yates High School in Houston ISD. Roberts is charged with recruiting nearly 100 teachers to participate in the cheating scheme. She is charged with two counts of organized criminal activity with her bond set at $100,000 for each count.
Grayson’s attorney, Cheryl Irvin, acknowledged the severity of the allegations in court Friday.
“This is a serious case because it involves education. We all know that a community struggles when the education system struggles, so I know everyone is concerned and should be concerned about that,” Irvin said.
But Irvin added that there is a lot of information that has to be sorted through for the court to make the right decision.
“The State has the burden to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Grayson is presumed innocent at this period of time, and so we’ll wait and receive the evidence that would indicate to us what evidence they have against him to allow us to evaluate what we should do next,” Irvin said.
The attorney for Yates High School assistant principal Roberts shared a similar sentiment. Roberts is charged with recruiting nearly 100 teachers to participate in the cheating scheme.
“We’ve seen this office make high-profile allegations before, only to have the case quietly filed away, because the evidence isn’t there,” defense attorney Brandon Leonard said. “We’ve seen nothing compelling here, and I want everyone to remember that my client is innocent unless and until proven guilty, so we look forward to our day in court.”
Nicholas Newton, an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington, appeared before the judge Friday in an orange jumpsuit. Newton allegedly participated in the cheating scheme as a proxy test-taker.
Newton’s attorney, Feroz Merchant, was just assigned to the case Friday. He said he is still waiting to receive more information about the case.
“I’ve spoken to the prosecutor who handled the case, and he’s going to turn over discovery and give me an opportunity to digest that, to see how best to proceed,” Feroz said.
If convicted, the suspects could get up to life in prison.