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Mille Lacs Academy Executive Director, Paul Smith, was convicted Thursday, Oct. 15 by an Oklahoma Federal District Court on charges stemming from his employment with Marie Detty Youth and Family Services Center, Inc., of Lawton, Okla., from 2001 to 2004.
Smith was convicted of four counts of embezzlement of funds from an employee pension plan and making false claims to investigators. Mail fraud charges were dismissed.
Sentencing is scheduled for late January, 2010.
The Mille Lacs Academy is a residential juvenile sex offender treatment program in Onamia.
Earlier in the year, in a released statement, Smith said, “These charges were thoroughly investigated in 2004 by the Marie Detty board of directors. I was exonerated of all allegations, and all charges were dropped. I’m sure the federal charges will be dropped as well.”
David Hutchinson, the CEO of Nexus, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation which operates Mille Lacs Academy, responded to Smith’s conviction with this statement:
“Paul Smith joined Nexus in 2007 as executive director of Mille Lacs Academy after a thorough
background investigation. At that time, we found that both the Marie Detty organization and the Oklahoma Health & Human Services Department had investigated the same transactions on which the conviction is based, and that both investigations had exonerated Mr. Smith in 2004.
“Paul Smith has always exhibited excellence in his duties as director of Mille Lacs Academy. When we learned of the Oklahoma indictment, our position was to let the justice system take its course. However, we want to assure our referral sources and the public that we maintained vigilant oversight and supervision of all financial and operational matters at Mille Lacs Academy since learning of the indictment and that the independent financial audits performed during Paul’s leadership at Mille Lacs Academy have shown no irregularities.
“As a result of this conviction, Paul has submitted his resignation, and Nexus has accepted it, effective immediately. Patrick Rookey, Vice President Clinical Operations, will serve as interim director. A search for a permanent replacement is already underway.”
The embezzlement and false statement convictions each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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