LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A former LRSD administrator was found guilty of mail fraud on Wednesday by a United States District Court Judge.
The judge found 48-year-old Karen James guilty of mail fraud after more than $230,000 of Little Rock School District's funds were spent on 'personal online shopping.'
James started serving as the district's Director of Early Childhood Education and Elementary Literacy in 2010.
In that role, she was issued two credit cards that were funded by state and federal grants. The cards were intended to be used to make purchases for the early childhood programs around Little Rock School District.
James was required to provide documentation, either logging the transaction or submitting a receipt to the district whenever a purchase was made.
LRSD found in August of 2018 that James was providing the district with 'fabricated receipts and false transaction logs,' that were manipulated to appear as though the purchases were authorized.
The district was later able to obtain the original receipts from the various businesses, which is where they were able to see the actual 'personal items' that James purchased.
James was reportedly using the credit cards to shop online spanning from August 2014 until August 2018, when the district detected the unauthorized purchases.
During that time, she spent more than $199,200 as she purchased more than 2,400 items on Amazon. She also spent $27,000 on unauthorized items through PayPal, along with another $4,000 on home goods.
James also had the items shipped to her home, which violated the district's policy.
In total, purchases of $230,635.86 were found during the investigation and as part of James' plea agreement, she's required to pay that same amount back to Little Rock School District.
The United States District Court Judge will reportedly sentence James at a later time.